Sex & Drugs & Familiar Faces
by OneHorseShay
Summary: A familiar face from Gigi's past returns to potentially shake things up more than they already are for everyone as she takes her next steps to stardom with an opportunistic mother and new band. Post-'Bang, Bang'. OC played by Avan Jogia
1. Chapter 1

Hello dear readers. I have a new and different piece for you today. This will be longer than my usual oneshots in this fandom, so I hope you enjoy. I hope to have regular updates and for those of you who read my other pieces, I've been busy this summer so hopefully they'll continue to be updated as well.

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Sex & Drugs & Familiar Faces

By OneHorseShay  
Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue. For God's sake, don't sue.  
Rating: T (For now) for future Language, Adult Situations/Themes  
Summary: A familiar face from Gigi's past returns to potentially shake things up more than they already are for everyone as she takes her next steps to stardom with an opportunistic mother and new band. Post-'Bang, Bang'.

Author's Note: Though the show is TV-MA, I'm going to try to keep it down to T as much as possible for the widest audience and censor words as they would if you were watching it broadcast. I hope this doesn't take away from the piece.

Special thanks go to Tonita Davis (priestronno) on Twitter for the artwork and help with a particular name in this piece.

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Chapter 1

The (SHOO) Factory  
New York City, NY  
Early May, 2016

Gigi felt invigorated and beyond motivated, more motivated than she had felt in months as she belted out one of the last lines from 'Bang, Bang' while her new band the 'Red Wedding' that was playing with her, trying to recreate the magic of the Assassins when they recorded the song for her 'leaked' music video. The video was getting a lot of attention from well-connected and respectable parties, so they had to reach that same level of performance together to meet with them in the coming week even if most of their eyes would be with her front and center.

After another few moments of singing to reach the end of the song, Gigi leaned forward, taking the microphone stand with her while keeping her chin high and eyes closed as she sang out her last word, "…Bang!"

The guitarist, Manny, who oddly favored Johnny, finished his last note, giving Flash a run for his money in performing despite two decades less in experience than the former Gaga guitarist as Gigi stood up and brushed her hair out of her face.

As the note died down, the others turned to one another and congratulated themselves and shared a few high fives. Manny raised his hand to give Gigi a high five and she responded with a slap of his hand and wore a bright smile, getting into the spirit of a successful rehearsal with the band she had only known for less than a week. She turned to Bo, the base guitarist still wearing his fedora that never seemed to leave his head, to give him one then leaned over to share one with Kari, the blonde keyboardist behind the keyboard.

She may not have been totally at ease with them as she had gotten with the Assassins as she hadn't known them for months, but didn't have to force herself to be excited and share in their feelings of accomplishment.

A soft lazy clapping was heard from the side of the room interrupting their celebration, clearly meant to show the person's approval of her performance.

The band members turned their attention in the direction of the clapping, spying a young man in his very early twenties resting his shoulder against the doorframe. He was a young man with just past shoulder length dark hair with some facial hair and stood at around five-ten with a tan complexion and had slender frame under his unbuttoned red and black plaid shirt, athletic shirt and blue jeans. He wore a soft smile and had the looks to easily be a model.

Gigi's eyes widened to near saucers and her jaw nearly dropped as she recognized the young man.

Manny turned a polite smile to their one man audience and spoke, "Hey, this is a private session and we have it booked for the hour."

The young man ran his right hair through his hair and brushed it back, getting some of it off the right side of his face as he pushed himself off the doorframe and took a step inside the room. He returned with a charming smile that would make any number of young ladies swooning, including Kari behind the keyboard, and answered in just as easygoing manner, "Oh, I'm not a musician. I was just enjoying the performance…" He turned his gaze to Gigi and finished with a bigger smile, "…and just wanted to see an old friend."

The 'Red Wedding' noticed his eyes were entirely on Gigi and as they looked at their lead singer, they saw that she looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Bo reached out and gently touched her left elbow and asked in a concerned voice, "Gigi? You alright?"

The raven hair colored young woman blinked then gazed to her new band mate, seeing his concern look in his eyes. She finally found her voice and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked to their surprised audience member, blinking a few more times then uttering, "Ah… hey."

He turned a warm smile to Gigi and replied, "It's good to see you too Virginia."

Gigi slightly shook her head, still stunned with this appearance and asked with a forming smile, "Alex, what ah… what are you doing here?"

Alex stuck his hands in his jean pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "I was in town and thought I'd look you up. It's been how many months since we talked?"

Manny pulled his guitar strap over his head and placed the instrument in the nearby stand then asked, "Care to make an introduction Gigi?"

Gigi shook her head and palmed her forehead for a moment before motioning with the same hand to the new arrival and answering, "Right sorry, this is an old friend of mine from Ohio—"

The handsome young man took a few steps forward and offered his hand to the guitarist, "Hello. I'm Alexander Tudor. Nice to meet you."

Manny wore a cautious smile as he accepted the handshake, but it was a quick one since Alexander let it go and turned to Bo, offering a handshake that was accepted. They dropped his handshake then politely nodded his head to Kari and finished, "Ma'am."

Alexander wore a half, but genuine smile as he commented, "You guys were great."

Manny cautiously answered, not sure what to make of the new arrival with being Gigi's 'old friend', "Thanks."

The Ohioan looked back to Gigi, keeping his smile that turned to an affectionate one.

Gigi's expression turned into a sweet, bashful smile, perhaps a little lost for words.

Kari stood up and walked around the keyboard stand to join the others. She darted her eyes back and from with the exchange of looks her new band mate was giving to the handsome young man. She half smirked then motioned toward the exit behind Alexander. "Ah, Gigi, we're going to take five and head for the break room. Do you want anything?"

Gigi shook herself out of the stupor she found herself since the handsome young man arrived and glanced over to Kari to answer with an awkward laugh, "No, I'm fine. Thanks."

Manny and Bo gave questioning looks to Kari, but she nodded her head to her left and grabbed Bo by the end of the sleeve to 'encourage' him to follow her. Manny and the drummer followed behind, not seeing the point to argue with their keyboardist even if he had his reluctance of leaving her with the stranger. The guitar player threw another concerned glance to his band's new lead singer then was the last one out with the others.

Alexander cocked an eyebrow and laughed with a boyish grin, "I didn't think it would be that big a shock to see me."

Gigi took the stride to close the distance between them and wrapped her arms behind his neck to pull him into a hug while his arms naturally wrapped around the small of her back.

He teased with a gentle squeeze of his arms around her, "I like this kind of welcome."

The dark haired smiled beside his head then the musician pulled back, resting her hands on his shoulders while he kept his hands on her sides. She gave him a nervous smile and replied, "Hi… it's been a while."

He laughed it off, trying to keep things relaxed, "Only what? Eight, nine months top. You looked surprised to see me. I didn't change that much did I?"

She reached up and tugged on some of his long hair and teased, "This got longer." She brushed a fingertip over some of the hair above his top lip and the vertical line of hair under his bottom lip to his slight fuss on his chin. "And this is new too. You look like some… conquistador."

He snorted out a laugh and reached up and slipped some of her black locks on her left shoulder between his fingers in return and answered, "This did too… nice dye job. I like that natural brunette, but this definitely works for you too."

"Thanks," she snorted as she took a step back. Her smile faded a little and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Alex's smile turned into an awkward laugh as if he was caught in a compromising position. He was about to answer, but Cat walked from behind the studio controls and asked, "Where's the band…" Her face fell as she recognized the young man. She stuttered a few seconds before stumbling over herself to reply, "Hello Alex?"

Alex let go of Gigi and she took a spot next to him as he returned in a polite manner, but with a tight smile, "Hello Miss Zakarian. It's nice to see you."

Cat's caught off guard look was replaced with a guarded one and asked in a curt tone, "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled and glanced to Gigi with the right corner of his eye, feeling a little trapped, but started to answer anyway—until Johnny walked out from the booth entrance and called out, "Ah, what's going on?"

The former backup singer rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath through her nose before glancing over her right shoulder, clearly perturbed for being interrupted.

Johnny looked a little bewildered that she would give him such a look then looked to Alex. He gave the young man a once over then asked, "Hi, who are you?" He didn't wait for an answer as he darted his gaze between his daughter and current lover/partner/question mark.

The young man offered his hand to Johnny and introduced himself, "I'm Alexander Tudor…" He glanced to Gigi then finished, "…I'm an old friend of Gigi's."

Johnny accepted the handshake and asked, "You are? From Ohio?"

Alex wasn't sure where else an old friend could be from for the young woman that had spent almost her whole life in Ohio, but he wasn't going to remark on it. He answered with a respectful smile, "Ah yeah… and you're… you're the famous Johnny Rock?"

The washed up rock star smiled, pleased that his ego had been stroked and answered, "Yeah, I'm the famous Johnny Rock."

Cat flicked a gaze to Johnny, not liking that the young man was starting off on the right foot with him. One just had to stroke the man's ego (and something else in her case) to get him on your side. She barely constrained herself from being sarcastic as she asked, "So, what's with the visit?"

Alex dropped his handshake and kept his polite smile as he answered, "Okay, try this one more time. I just wanted to check up on Gigi while I was in town. It's been a while since we've seen each other."

Cat narrowed her gaze on the young man and a lace of sarcasm was heard in her voice, "Right… just a friendly visit? New York isn't exactly down the street from New London."

"No, but…" He turned a looked to Gigi with an affectionate gaze. "…the trip is definitely worth it."

Gigi's smile grew, appearing a little bashful with the gaze he was directing at her.

Johnny may not have been the most observant person in the world, but he could definitely see there was some sparks between the pair and it wasn't just 'friendship'.

Cat was quick to jump back into the conversation, trying to still sound friendly while clearly impatient with his presence, "Well, I'm sure Gigi appreciates the visit, but right now she's very busy rehearsing as she has a number of auditions lined up… Lana Del Rey's managing company… Jay Z's Company, so yeah… we need to get her back to rehearsing."

Gigi knotted her brow and turned the disapproving gaze at her mother attempting to brush him off.

Alex nodded along and laughed, "I can imagine after that video…" He looked to Gigi and shook his head, giving her an approving gaze with a smile. "You sounded fantastic and…" He grabbed the collar of his plaid shirt and flicked it back and forth a few times to act if he was cooling himself off around the neck. "You were definitely hot. No wonder your footsteps in it were sizzling while you walked down the hallway…"

The pale musician licked her lips and bashfully bowed her head, but glanced up to meet his eyes. "Ah… thanks."

He looked to Cat and continued, "I wouldn't want to get in the way of her rehearsing…"

"That's good to hear…" the ambitious mother answered while shifting her weight to one leg and started to turn a penetrating stare onto him.

"…yeah, it's not like I ever tried to talk her out of her dream…" he added in a carefree tone while continuing to wear his pleasant smile, but clearly sending a shot over Cat's bow to let her know she wasn't going to brush him aside.

Cat didn't bother wearing a polite expression and turned an annoyed gaze on him.

Johnny raised an eyebrow while Gigi nervously crossed her arms over her stomach.

Alex looked to Gigi and asked, "I guess I can just hang around a bit. If that's alright? I was hoping we could catch up?"

Gigi eagerly nodded and answered, "Sure of course. Yeah… no problem. We just have a few more songs to go through. It shouldn't be too—"

Cat's expression was less than pleased with the idea of the young man's presence. She politely interrupted though it was clear being polite was the last thing she wanted to be with him, "Yeah, but that could take a few more hours…" She looked to Alex and added, "Are you sure you want to stay that long?"

The handsome young man cocked his head to the side and answered in a mildly sarcastic tone, "Oh, I have plenty of time. It's not like I have a job to get back to…"

The ambitious woman narrowed her gaze further, wanting smack the smug look off his face, but stayed her hand.

Johnny and Gigi could feel the tension getting so thick one could cut it with Flash's chainsaw, but neither understood why.

Cat looked to Gigi, took a deep calming breath and asked her daughter in a curt tone, "Where's the band?"

Gigi nodded her head towards the other exit and answered, "They're in the break room. They needed a break."

"Well, I'm going to go get them. We don't have that much time for you to meld with one another so you can blow them away on Thursday." She tightened her smile and spoke, "Alex."

"Miss Zakarian," he answered with a charming smile.

She walked past him to the other entrance to go get the band.

As soon as she was out of the room, Johnny asked, "What the f-[…] was that about?"

Alex blinked then slightly knotted his brow.

Gigi cocked her head while crossing her arms over her chest. "Smooth dad, real smooth."

Johnny shrugged his shoulders and innocently asked, "What?"

Alex innocently answered, "Why she doesn't seem all too happy to see me? I'm not sure what her problem is. I thought we parted on good terms."

The aging rock star questioned, clearly drawing the wrong conclusion from Alex remark, "Parted?"

A sinking feeling started in Gigi's stomach as her mind raced to the same possibility that perhaps something went on between him and her mother. She thought she might die if something happened between them.

Alex threw up a cocked eyebrow and answered, "I worked with the horses on her farm. She had to let me go when her finances got tight. I'm not sure why she would be so… abrasive. It's not like I was mad about it." He just shrugged his shoulders and added, "Some things just happen."

Johnny blew out a sigh of relief, rolled his eyes and laughed, "Yeah, getting foreclosed on will do that to you."

The handsome young man looked a bit stunned with the news. He replied with a raised brow, "It did? Wow… that's news to me."

Gigi slightly squinted, not believing she had heard him right, but the embarrassed expression on his face as if he had been caught told her that she had heard him correctly. Her jaw dropped for a moment and eyes went wide, totally stunned by the news then shouted, "Foreclosed? The house… the farm was foreclosed on?!"

The aging rock star sucked in breath through his closed teeth and gave his daughter a look that he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jaw. He put on a broad grin and answered with an awkward, "Yes, honey… I thought ah… your mom told you…"

Gigi clenched her jaw for a second then hissed out, "No dad, she didn't." She palmed her forehead and turned away from the pair, starting to pace around.

Alex and Johnny shared concerned looks for a second then looked back to the growing upset inspiring musician. She turned to face her father and demanded, "You knew that the farm was foreclosed on?"

Johnny wanted to be anywhere but under the accusing gaze of his daughter, but couldn't escape from it. "I just found out a few days ago and thought your mom told you."

She crossed her arms under her chest, but kept her right hand free and idly pointed to the ground, motioning her finger back and forth to punctuate her words, "So she told you, but not me? Why?"

He nervously chuckled, trying to find anyway to escape the conversation, "Ah… she didn't exactly tell me honey."

"Not 'exactly'? What does that mean?"

Johnny took a deeper breath then slowly let it out then hastily answered, "It's not important right now _how_ I found out; what's important is that your mother is here to support you and do everything she can to make sure you make it big." He raised his hands up and spread his fingers to mimic and explosion. "Big—superstar big."

Gigi cocked her head and gave him a cold stare. She replied with a venom filled sarcastic tone, "Yeah… and I know why she had a sudden change of heart and so eager to come out here and be all supportive of me—she's out of money and I'm her ticket to a big payday."

Johnny closed his mouth and tightly smiled, unable to make any comeback as he had basically accuse Cat of doing the same thing before she convinced him to talk Gigi into firing the band.

Alex looked back and forth between the father and daughter, feeling particularly awkward to be on the sidelines of the secret that shouldn't have been a secret to Gigi. He easily saw that the absentee father was in deep trouble with her. He wasn't particularly concerned about him, but his concern was on Gigi. He turned a sympathetic gaze to Gigi and continued with a sorrowful voice, "Gigi… I'm sorry… about your home."

Gigi's angry gaze was turned on him for a few seconds until she realized what he meant. She was angry about her parents keeping the secret because it was to cover her mother's true motivation of suddenly being onboard to make her a star, but it just hit her that she had lost her childhood home. She may have been desperate to get out of Ohio and as far away as she could from living on a farm, but it was still her home and now it belonged to some bank. Her expression softened then she bowed her head and muttered, "Yeah…"

Cat walked back with the band behind her and cheerfully began, "Okay, let's get on with…" She trailed off and her face dropped to a confused expression when she saw Gigi turn a cold glare to her.

The former Ohioan mother turned a perplexed gaze and asked, "What?"

Gigi wanted to bite her head off, but she held her tongue for a moment and just gave her a harsh glare. She turned to her new band mates and spoke in a clipped tone, "Nothing, we have rehearsals. Let's go through a few more songs and call it a day."

The band members glanced to one another as it didn't go past any of them how angry she looked, but didn't comment as they picked up and took their positions. They realized that one shouldn't trifle with a pissed off Gigi.

Cat's face became a mask to hide the concern she felt as she say she just walked into some emotional minefield. She looked to Johnny, whose face wore guilt all over it, confirming to her that it was entirely his fault. She walked over her 'baby daddy' and grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him along to follow her to the control booth.

Alex glanced to the seats opposite of the band and decided to take a seat in the middle of the couch. He plopped down and crossed over his right leg to rest his ankle on his left knee and rest his right hand on his knee. He eagerly looked to his old friend, ready to be impressed by her musical talent.

Gigi took her place in front behind the microphone, gripping it in her hand then her eyes met Alex's half cocky smile. Her anger dissipated for a moment and turned a small smile to him. She looked over each shoulder and spoke, "Okay, 'Die Trying' from the top." She turned back to look at Alex, subconsciously going to enjoy performing.

The band started playing, Gigi took a breath then belted out the first line, _"Let go of my soul… let me up so I can breathe…"  
_

* * *

On the other side of the glass in the next room, Cat turned a harsh glare to Johnny and asked, "What happened? Why is she pissed? What did you say? What did he say?"

Johnny put on an embarrassing expression then whispered under his breath, "I kind of let it slip that the house was foreclosed on when he brought up not working for you anymore and now she thinks you're in this for just the money…"

The pushy mother's eyes opened wide then palmed over her forehead and swore, "S-[…]… What did you tell her? You did have the brains to defend me?"

The spiky haired dirty blonde sighed, not appreciating her talking to him like a child. He let out an acerbated breath and answered, "Yes I did. I told her what was important was that you were here supporting her to become big—really big, but… she's too mad to have heard me then you walked back with the band…"

She shut her eyes, palmed over her face and shook her head. She mumbled under her hands, "S-[…], s-[…], s-[…]…" She dropped them and squared her jaw. She glanced to his chest and stated with some exaggerated hand movements, "Well… after rehearsals, we're going to just have to convince her that my intentions are real and that I'm here to make sure she becomes a star. Remind her what we've already accomplished so far in less than two weeks than those losers have done for her in the last eight months."

Johnny nodded to the other side of the glass and remarked, "That might be a little tricky with him here. Her eyes are all over her like he's the only one in the room. Who is he anyway?"

Cat looked out the window and saw Gigi getting into performing and the band messing up with her. She couldn't miss seeing her daughter directing her sole attention to the young man sitting on the couch across from her wearing a content grin. She breathed out a tired breath, "He's her ex."

Johnny blinked and uttered, "Her what?"

She ignored him and kept her focus on her daughter, letting the gears turn in her head about how to remove the new arrival before he could screw up her plan.

* * *

 _"I'm going to get right over you… or I'm going to die trying…"_

Alex tightened his smile, but tried to give her a supportive expression as she sang, but the line and the general theme of the song as he listened stung him.

Gigi faltered for a second in seeing his shift in reaction, realizing that perhaps he thought that she was speaking about him, but she quickly recovered and continued pouring her heart into the song.

The other band members noticed her slight fumbled, but continued playing with just glances to one another.

On the other side of the glass, Cat crossed her arms and stared at her daughter. She was pleased that she was putting her heart and soul into her singing, taking her rehearsal seriously after weeks of putting it on the backburner for 'Ava X' even if it was fueled by some anger towards her. However, she didn't like how she was looking at Alex. She had already manipulated the situation to get rid of the Assassins from around Gigi's neck and had Johnny wrapped around her finger, so she didn't need someone else to gunk up the works for her daughter to reach stardom.

Over the next half hour, they played through another few songs, a few of them twice before Gigi turned to the band and congratulated them with a genuine smile, "That was great guys… Manny, Bo, fantastic on guitar."

The pair mirrored in nodding their respective heads and the lead guitarist answered, "Thanks."

Gigi followed up, "Kari, your fingers are magic."

The blonde tightly smile to keep from laughing.

The lead singer looked to the quiet member of the band commented, "You're killing with those drums."

He raised his right hand for a thumbs up and directed an appreciative smile to her.

Alex stood up from the couch and gave an enthusiastic clap. "She's right. You guys were great. Thanks for the free show."

Manny laughed along, "Just make sure you buy two tickets when you see us at our next gig."

The fellow Ohioan laughed along, "I'll remember that."

Gigi took another quick breath then suggested, "I think we can call it an afternoon."

Cat and Johnny walked out of the control booth and she wore an eager smile. "That was great, but are you sure you want to quit for the day? You were playing tight."

Gigi turned a disapproving gaze towards her mother, clearly unhappy with her suggestion.

Manny forced a smile and agreed with who was their unofficial manager that they could play a little longer, but he passed a glance at his watch and saw that they were approaching the end of their rehearsal time. "Our rehearsal time is up for the day though…" He started then passed a look over the others. "Want to head out to get some drinks or something to eat?"

Cat wasn't happy with them stopping already, but she did like the idea of Gigi and the band bonding so they would sync up for their performances. She was about to put in her two cents to suggest a place, but Kari patted her legs under the keyboard and suggested, "Why don't we let Gigi catch up with her friend and we can hang after our next jam?"

Manny wasn't entirely comfortable idea from the look on his face, but answered, "Sure, yeah…"

Cat was ready to turn a glare onto the keyboardist, but Gigi eyed the blonde first and gave her a thankful half smirk. "Thanks Kari. Same time tomorrow then we'll go out for drinks."

"Right, Gi…" the blonde answered with an understanding gaze.

Bo and Manny packed up their guitars while the others were grabbing their jackets then Kari grabbed Bo's hand and pulled him along, signaling the others that they should follow. Kari waved back and gave Gigi a knowing smile.

The ambitious mother had to bite her tongue as she watched her raven hair colored daughter give a slight nod of her head, signaling she got the message. Gigi looked to Alex and looped her arm around his right arm. They shared a bashful smile for a moment then she asked, "So, you want to head out and grab those drinks and catch up?"

He snorted out a laugh, "It's a little early for my one beer a day."

She rolled her eyes and slightly shook her head. "I know this great little coffee shop."

He raised an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth and asked in a deadpan manner, "Am I going to have to buy you a bagel?"

She bit her bottom lip and smirked, signaling that was exactly what he was going to have to do for her. He smiled with his to show he had absolutely no problem doing just that for her. She turned with him and walked with him to the door, pausing only long enough for her to grab her jacket and purse.

Cat grabbed Johnny by the wrist and practically dragged him along, not wanting the pair to get out of her sight.

Coffee Shop  
New York City, NY

The quartet, much to Gigi chagrin of her parents joining them because of them keeping the foreclosure to themselves and interrupting catching up with Alex in private, sat around a small table in the shop that she had shared a number of times with Flash and where the band had a number of celebrated lunches including for Ava X. She sat across from Alex while her parents sat on the other sides of the table from one another. She felt like they were setting themselves up as some kind of referees or chaperons. The only thing that was settling her nerves was that Alex was sitting across from her and she had a nice cup of coffee and bagel in front of her.

Alex took a bite from a cookie and was the first to really start off the conversation, "So, you've been busy since you got to New York. Hitting the club scene, getting into the trade magazines…" He interrupted himself with a laugh, "…which they misspelled your band's name, though I wasn't really paying attention to that the first few times…" His laugh trailed off as he finished, "…I saw your trip to Europe. That certainly made the news."

Gigi took a quick sip from her cup then replied with a proud smile, "Yeah, climbing my way up one step at a time."

He looked to Cat as he added, "And getting a new band in the process…"

Cat was quick to defend her actions as she could see a slight accusing look in his eyes, "It was something Gigi had to do for her to progress. They were weighing her down with all their rivalries and f-ed up problems and history and she didn't have time to deal with all that s-[…]. They already did enough damage to her and she needed to cut her losses before they dragged her down with them."

Alex slightly squinted and looked to Gigi, questioning in a measure, but clearly concerned voice, "What did they do?"

Gigi took a deep breath through her nose then loudly sighed out, "I don't want to talk about that right. That s-[…] is too heavy right now and I don't want to think about it."

He nodded along with an understanding expression, though he was going to get to the bottom of what had happened. "Okay, that's cool… whatever." He quickly brought his drink to his lips in an attempt to play the whole thing off casual, but his concern for her skyrocketed.

Cat jumped back into the conversation to push, glancing over to Gigi to make her point, "And that's why it's important we get as much rehearsal time as we can for her and the 'Red Wedding' to mesh up as I admit, she sounds fantastic with the Assassins."

Gigi sighed and restrained from rolling her eyes to answer, "We can do too much rehearsing. I don't want to overstrain my voice or risk them overplaying. I can't afford to be in a middle of a jam being watched by all the people you have lined up and one of them has a hand cramp and just blows it for me."

Cat picked up her coffee cup to her lips, restraining herself from arguing with her daughter in a public place.

Alex glanced off to the side and brushed the side the side of his hand over his mouth.

Gigi noticed the action and asked, "What?"

He turned a smile to his former girlfriend and laughed, "Sorry, I'm just remembering that Halloween pic from a few years ago where you were dressed up as some kind of zombie in that red dress. You could have been a dead bride in that."

She took a moment to recall the memory then soon cracked a grin and nodded along. She added with a soft giggle, "You were a great zombie Captain Sparrow—this time you have the facial hair to go with it."

The horse handler rolled his eyes and replied, "I thought we made an odd and original couple."

She bowed her head and glanced at her plate, keeping a small grin on her face. She looked up and asked, "So, how did you know I got a new band and how did you now where I was this afternoon?"

"Ah… you tweeted about the band," he started with restrained grin but finished with a soft laugh.

Gigi pursed her lips and glanced down, feeling a bit dumb that she had casually tweeted that out as if it was no big deal. She dryly remarked, "Yeah, I did tweet that out…"

"And I saw a sign a few times in your pics about where you were rehearsing. I googled the address and I took a stab that you'd be there. I wanted to surprise you."

"You certainly did that," she answered with a joyful grin and took a bite out of her bagel.

Johnny didn't bother hiding his confusion about how well the former couple was getting along in light of how she reacted to Flash when they broke up. He tried to casually laugh along, "So, you've been keeping up with Gigi since she left Ohio?"

Alex took another bite of his cookie then answered, "Sure. Of course I have. I have been keeping up with her on Twitter, Instagram and whatever news pops up with your name in it…" He looked to Gigi and slightly leaned forward to whisper as if they were by themselves, "Your mom's talked about you a few times since you've been gone."

Cat tightened her smile, trying to keep a pleasant expression on her face, regretting now ever mentioning her daughter around him or giving him a job at her farm.

Gigi slightly shook her head, only imagining what her mother had said about her while she was gone—probably not anything flattering with her railing against her being in New York in the first place. Then again, she wasn't particularly flattering when she spoke about her mother to others.

Johnny tried to casually insert himself back into the conversation, "Because you were working on Cat's farm? With the horses?"

His question was clearly meant to probe the true relationship between the young man and the mother of his child, but before Alex could answer, the inspiring musician was quick answer, "That's because he's always been good with the horses…" She turned on a knowing grin in his direction. "…it's probably the only reason why you wanted to come over to my house that first time."

Alex relaxed back in his chair and teased, "What? Hanging out with a pretty girl to do homework with wasn't enough?"

It was probably not the best joke to make in front of her parents, but she made it anyway, "I was an A-cup back then…"

The long haired Ohioan awkwardly chuckled, "It wasn't you chest I fell for back then…"

Gigi ran her tongue over the front of her top teeth then took another bite from her bagel, eyeing him with a teasing look in her eyes.

Cat took a slow breath and hid her expression behind her cup, resisting the urge to kick the young man under the table.

Alex continued on with Johnny's original question, "Yeah, I love horses, so after we graduated from New London High School, I went to Ohio State's Agricultural tech school to pick up my associate's degree on Horse Production and Management and finished up my bachelor's in business with a few more biology classes to flesh out my animal science back in December." He glanced to Cat and finished, "Been working for Miss Zakarian on her farm through college."

Gigi turned a genuine smile to him and said, "Congrats. I know you worked hard for it."

He turned a teasing smile to her and replied, "It just wasn't the same without you that last year… who else was I going to copy my work from?"

The lovely musician rolled her eyes and took another bite from her bagel.

Johnny squinted and asked his daughter, "Wait, you went to college?"

Gigi finished the morsel in her mouth then shrugged a shoulder and replied, "Just the same tech school for the first two years out of high school. Mom was insistent I learn about the business, but you know… finished the associate's degree and it didn't take… and the commute was a bitch each way."

"Hey, I didn't think I was that bad of company. I drove most of the time and I let you hog the radio."

She slightly tilted her head to the side and just eyed him for a moment, trying not to crack a smile as he directed a teasing one at her.

Johnny interrupted, a bit astonished that this was the first time he had heard about that tidbit of her life, "Wow honey, that's kind of amazing. I didn't realize you studied horses, I mean you know, at a college level."

The young woman paused on thinking about might have been, but quickly answered, "Yeah, but… you know… it's about the music now for me."

Cat placed a supportive hand on Gigi's upper arm and assured her, "And you're going to be the biggest name in it. We're going to make sure of it sweetie."

Alex teased just before he took a sip from his drink, "Yeah, I can't wait to illegally download your album."

The former backup singer turned a glare to Alex, but Gigi snorted then had to cover her mouth from letting out a soft laugh.

"Unless I get a free copy of your album that you sign… then I can sell it online?"

Gigi crossed her arms to rest them on the table and shook her head, smirking and looking like she had something to say.

Alex chuckled and took another sip of his drink.

The young singer sat up in her seat and asked, "So, you've obviously been keeping up with what I've been doing, what are you doing now…" She glanced to her mother and finished with a bit of an icy tone, "…that you're not working for my mom?"

He sat his drink down then answered, "Oh, just in the middle of job hunting, but there are plenty of stables in and around New London. I shouldn't have any problem picking up something. I had the opportunity, so why not come and visit you? I tried to get Becky to come along, but she's busy doing her thing, but she does send you her love."

Gigi smiled again, something she didn't realize she had been doing a lot of since he arrived at the rehearsal studio. "Good, because if you need any—"

Alex shook his head and cut her off, "I don't want any money from you Gigi. I'm fine. I don't have any student loans out and I've saved up a nice little nest egg working for your mom and I still have a roof over my head."

She nodded her head to the side and replied, "Okay, so… if you have a roof over your head, where are you staying while you're here?"

"Oh, I got me this little hotel room. It's not the best, but it's not the worst," he casually answered then took another bite of his cookie.

Gigi could only imagine what kind of hotel room he could be renting in the city if it wasn't one of the four or five star places and it did not meet her approval. "No, you don't have to do that. Why don't we stop by where you're staying then head back to our place?" She glanced to the table and asked, "I have a couch at my place if you want to crash there? Save you some cash for a hotel."

Alex shook his head. "I didn't come out here to impose on you Gigi, just to see you and maybe enjoy the city a bit."

Cat was quick to interrupt, trying to come off as pleasant, but to Gigi's ears, clearly coming off with an agenda, "Alex is right. He's never been one to impose on anybody."

Gigi guardedly looked to her mother then put on a bright, almost vindictive smile towards her and replied, "He's not imposing…" The smile softened into a genuine one as she finished, "…he's visiting."

* * *

Author's Note: I hope this as enticed you to come back for future chapters to this story. If you haven't guest who would have been cast for the role of Alexander Tudor, that would be the familiar as one Avan Jogia. Also, apologize for not naming the drummer, but he wasn't listed in the credits for the season final, so it wasn't a slight on my part towards not naming him.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello dear readers, I want to thank you for all the support you've shown this story so far in just the first chapter. I appreciate the feedback and ask that you continue with it since (lowering my voice) I'm not really a Bade shipper, so I don't have a lot of positive experience in writing them… okay, I do have it in 'iHunt the Animal' (check it out when you can) and 'Double Proposal' (guess what Beck asks Jade in that one).

On to readers reviews since I have a lot of nonmembers reviewing and can't answer through PMs:

Carmela2000: Thank you and yes, I put Avan Joga in this as her ex-boyfriend. The idea for him to play a potential love interest in the unfortunately didn't happen third season was batted about, so I thought I'd take a shot at it. We'll see how they play out as friends and if it will lead to something more again.

Also, if you like Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll stories, please check out my other stories that are more Ava and Gigi focused on my page.

Emily: Thank you and here is the next chapter.

Guest: Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Fanfic-Reader-88: Alex is a work-in-progress as a character, but I think I have a farily good idea on design. With my history of writing, it is a surprise who I got to play him as you know there is someone else I pair Liz's characters up with. Cat's out for blood and money and doesn't like anyone potentially sabotaging that.

alicheriee: Thank you. It's been a week, so here's an update.

Ivana: Thank you and I hope you like this chapter. A lot of emotional lifting in this chapter that I hope doesn't drag it.

Tonita R: Thank you. I hope you enjoy.

Okay, on with the story.

Rating: T, Language

* * *

Chapter 2

Gigi's Apartment  
New York City, NY

Gigi opened the door to her apartment and let the three inside after they had swung by the hotel Alexander was staying. After one look at his lodging arrangements, she had no doubts about letting him stay a few days with them over the subtle objections of her mother. It wasn't a particularly bad place, but she would feel a lot better if he was someplace safer… and perhaps closer to her.

Alex took a moment to take in the apartment while he had a piece of luggage in each hand and a backpack on his back. He faintly smiled at seeing the openness of the apartment with a small living room, kitchen and dining room. He noticed at the end of the apartment a partially slid closed metal door which revealed a bedroom. On his left, he noticed and recognized the blonde in a shiny pink suit with the word 'Ava X' splashed across the bottom half of the poster. He raised an eyebrow, surprised the poster would still be prominently displayed for a woman that clearly wasn't involved in their lives anymore.

He turned to Gigi and sat his luggage down for a moment. He commented while passing another glance around the apartment, "Wow, you have a nice little place here."

She smiled proudly, standing close to him and answered, "Thanks. It's nice and cozy for us."

He refrained from commenting that it did seem nice for their little 'family' and instead looked to the couch and joked with his ex, "That looks like a comfortable couch."

"It is…" She motioned her head towards her bedroom and said, "Why don't you just dump your stuff in my room?"

"Oh, okay."

She picked up the piece of luggage on his right then looped her arm with his arm and walked him through the apartment towards her bedroom. They stepped inside and she slide the door closed behind them.

Cat groaned out and brought her closed fists to her forehead.

Johnny looked to Cat with a confused expression and asked, "What? You've been on edge since he showed up. What's your problem?"

She had her hands raised beside her head and shook them, wearing a disgusted look on her face. She motioned towards the door and hissed, "My problem is him."

"Why?"

She dropped her hands to the side and answered, "Because he's her ex and she doesn't need the distraction of him being here. We just got her away from Flash and the others from distracting her from making it big and we don't need him f-[…]-ing up the works."

He threw his hand in the direction of the bedroom and asked, "You expect her to jump his bones right now? Do I need to remind you about Irish grudges—the thing that we just used to get her to fire the band? If he's her ex, nothing's going to happen. Look how she is with Flash now and she dropped Davvy like she was a… hot Irish potato after what happened at 'Feast'."

Cat turned a gaze to him questioning his intelligence and replied with a question, "He's here isn't he? She's not angry or resentful towards him. She invited him to stay here even over my suggestions otherswise."

Johnny pursed his lips and glanced at the bedroom door, feeling a bit stupid for overlooking that fact. He sighed, seeing her point then asked, "How were they together in the first place? She doesn't date guys her own age. She thinks they're too childish, self-absorbed… they don't listen to her."

Cat motioned to one side with her hands then back as she answered, "They were friends through high school and they got together during their senior year and went through college. I was thrilled with it because he's a smart, levelheaded guy that was always dependable with her and the best on the farm… I think it was because he was an only child and his dad is a widower…"

She dropped her hands and motioned her head to the side. "Anyway, I thought with him she'd get rid of her ideas of coming out here and becoming a rock star. She'd just settle down, they'd get married and have a nice quiet life with him away from all this bull[….]." She shook her head and finished, "But after she finished her associate's degree and spent most of her days the following year just working on the farm… she just grew restless and back into the Heathens' music more and wanting to find you again… One day she decided that she was going to finally go find you and become a rock star. They broke up before she left and she never went into details why they broke up and he never explained it to me."

Johnny shook his head and squinted. "So there wasn't any bitter breakup? She didn't trash his place or slash his tires or something?"

Cat shook her head and answered, "There wasn't a hint of that, but then again she's left without talking about it at all and anytime I tried to bring it up while she's been here, she just won't answer me."

She started pacing the apartment, getting more frustrated as she spoke, "I did everything I could to get him to tell me why they broke up, but he wouldn't budge." She sharply turned to him and fiercely added, "I tried to get him to come here when Gigi was getting into Flash. You know, try to win her back before she got involved with him, but no… he said she was free to get with anyone she wanted and it wasn't his place to tell her different… unless…"

The old rocker slightly squinted as he asked, "Unless what?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "If he was going to physically hurt her, but he would have found out real quick that I was lying to him if he showed up. That would have blown up in my face."

Johnny nodded along, getting a better handle on the situation then asked, "So why is he here now? Why is he here to visit her out of the blue? What? He's out of work, saw Gigi's video and now wants to jump on the gravy train?"

Cat's expression turned cold and answered while crossing her arms, "I don't know and that's the problem. What I do know is he's not going to sabotage or distract her from her upcoming performances. I needed him then, not now… not when she's finally back on track after all the time you let her waste."

"I let her waste? You're blaming me?"

Cat pulled her arms apart and pinched her thumbs and forefingers together and took a close step to Johnny. She bore a deep stare at him and stated in no uncertain terms, "Yes I am. You should have stopped Flash from the start from messing with our girl and putting her career on hold for him. How many months did she waste focusing on him? She should have already been signed by now if any of you really had your eye on the ball and written enough songs for two albums for her by now."

Johnny raised a finger and defended himself, "Hey, you failed at keeping them apart too."

She took a step closer to him and glared. She practically snapped at him, "And from what I understand, you're the one that pushed them together after you failed to hook her up with a guy her own age."

The aging and arguably failed rock star sucked in a breath through clenched teeth then replied with a calming tone, trying to diffuse the situation, "Hey, it sounds like he's just visiting for a few days then he'll be back in Ohio. You're worrying too much."

She let him off the hook about his initial screw up in her mind, but pushed on, "And you don't worry at all. It's these few days I'm worrying about with her trying get in sync with the band and getting her into the right mindset to perform. She might get distracted with him, especially with not knowing why he's really here."

He was about to reply that she was worrying too much when a loud bang sounded from the metal door to Gigi's bedroom, causing the parents to turn curious looks to the door.

* * *

Inside Gigi's room, Alex sat his luggage down in an out of the way corner of the room then looked to Gigi.

Gigi pointed around the end of wall with her closet and explained, "The bathroom is there when you need it. Shower, tub, towels, anything you need."

"Thanks… you know you don't have to do this," he answered with a hesitant tone.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she took a seat at the end of her bed. She lazily questioned, "How many times did I crash at your place when I was pissed at my mom?"

He nodded his head to the side and returned with a tight smile. "More times than I can count." He joined her sitting on the bed and just gently smiled to her, each realizing that this was the first time they had a moment to themselves in about nine months.

Gigi slightly tilted her head and asked with a curious smile, "What?"

He let out a slow breath and answered, "Hi…"

She let out a relaxing breath and answered with an equally warm tone, "Hi."

He wasn't sure what next to say, just giving a nod of his head, but soon glanced to the door and remark, "Do you think they have their ears to the door listening to us?"

She lifted a corner of her mouth then got up from her seat and walked to the door. She locked it then raised her fist and pounded on the door, causing it to reverberate into the next room. She turned her head to him and grinned.

Alex chuckled and shook his head.

She walked back to the bed and retook her seat next to him. "So, where were we?"

He glanced at his lap for a moment then commented, "Well… I was saying hi to you and… was going to tell you that you were great at rehearsals—as if there was any doubt. There were some powerful songs that would really get to people… could relate to them… relate to you… You're going to blow those music representatives away."

She glanced down at her left thigh that she absently rubbed a hand up and down, quickly recalling what song in particular that he could be referring. She lifted her chin and answered with an awkward laugh, "Die Trying wasn't about you. It was a song that my dad and Flash—my former lead guitarist… and ex-boyfriend… wrote."

She tightened her smile as she suddenly felt embarrassed with adding that bit of information.

He nodded and let out a sigh of relief, quickly smiling. "I know about Flash. Your mom made sure I knew about him. She wanted me a few times to come here to…"

She paused for him to finish, but realized that he wanted her to fill in the words for him. She took the obvious guessed, "Sabotage my relationship?"

He nodded his head back and forth and answered with a bashful tone, "In so many words…"

"Why didn't you?"

He heard an odd tremor in her voice and raised a curious eyebrow. He threw her a verbal curve ball by asking, "Are you upset that I didn't try?"

She felt like he was seeing through her for a moment and it made her feel too vulnerable in his eyes. She quickly glanced away and answered, "Ah… no, ah… I just… I'm just curious why you wouldn't?"

He turned a cocky smile to her, hearing that she wasn't entirely truthful and replied, "I'll admit to be a 'little' jealous of anyone that could find their way into your good graces that way because… you know…" He let the statement hang in the air, letting her fill in the blank however she saw fit.

Alex ran a hand through his hair on the right side of his head and continued, "Anyway, I didn't do it as it was your mom just trying to manipulate us. It's your life, your decision as long as he wasn't hurting you—I mean physically. If that had happened… then your mother wouldn't have had to say anything to me and… he wouldn't ever be able to be Gaga's or anyone else's guitarist again."

Gigi may have been furious and disgusted at her ex, but she was quick to defend him against a false charge, "Nothing like that happened with Flash—"

"And that's why I didn't interfere," he was quick to reaffirm.

Gigi nodded her head, acknowledging his position.

"And if you are a 'little' upset that I didn't come over and fight for you…" His boyish smile grew as he finished, "…it doesn't mean I didn't care. It meant I respected your decisions to live your own life."

The dark haired musician tightened her smile then cautiously asked, "Right… About the song… did you seriously think it was about you?"

He cocked his head to the side and eyed her, nervously chuckling, "I was hoping it wasn't. I know there were hurt feelings on both sides when we broke up, but… I never believed that there was any bitterness between us over it… that you would do everything you could to 'get over me'…" He added with a chuckle, "…or die trying…"

Gigi cupped her hands together and rubbed them together then reached over and cupped over his left hand resting on his knee. "That song isn't us… we had what we had… and I remember all the good… we made the decisions that were best for us…" She swallowed down a small lump of pain bubbling from her soul and finished, "…no matter how much it hurt…"

Alex turned is hand over and gently grasped it, giving it a gentle squeeze and adding, "Best for the other's sake… we made our choices for each other's sakes and that's how I remember it too…"

They exchanged looks for a few moments, seeing in the other's eyes that they were being honest.

Alex's smile grew bigger and asked to bring some levity to situation, "So, am I going to get a chance to hear some of your songs you've written?"

She shook her head and glanced to the floor. "I don't write, you know that. That's one of the reasons I went searching for my dad and got his old band back together so they could write the songs and I could perform with real musicians."

He raised an eyebrow and gently laughed, "I remember that, but I would assume that you would start trying after a while. Once you got into… 'the groove' and the flow of this life, your creative juices would start flowing and start writing your own music."

"I think my dad wants me to do that… to a point as I don't think he wants me to find an excuse not to need him. I do wish that we would… have written some songs together."

"What's stopping you? You've been here for months with him."

She glanced away and shrugged a shoulder. "You know, I've been busy… You said you were following me on social media."

"It's one thing to read and see off Twitter and Instagram and everything else, but that's just a scratch on the surface what's going on with you. They're just snippets and what I have seen… you've been busy with a few things over the last few weeks and… they haven't seemed to me to be pleasant for you."

She relaxed back and braced her hands behind her, crossing her legs in the process. "Yeah, a few… 'things' have been going on, but… I'm fine… and things are getting back on track."

Alex raised a challenging eyebrow as he replied, "Fine? You just fired the band you dreamed all your life to play with. You can't tell me that didn't affect you or breaking up with your boyfriend… and girlfriend—I don't understand that—is just going to roll off you like water off a duck's back."

Gigi sighed then sat back up and slightly turned in her spot to look at him. "My mom told you… they were become a chain gang with all their ancient history and it was going to drag me down. It sucks, but… it was a relief beyond belief."

He sighed, nodding along to accept the answer at the moment, not really believing it, then asked in a tone that suggested he was embarrassed to ask her, "But there's Flash and about your girlfriend?" He cocked a questioning eyebrow and asked, "And when did you become a lesbian? Or are you bi now because you were still dating Flash?" He shook his head, raised his hands and chuckled, "If you are, that's your business. I'm the last person that will judge you, but I'm just confused Virginia."

Gigi cleared her throat and glanced to her knees.

Alex delicately pushed on, "Ah, I saw your Instagram with that girl Davvy… they're clearly suggestive pictures, especially with looking like you just got out of bed together."

Gigi's mouth formed an 'O' shape then slightly nodded her head to the side. "I'm not… a lesbian." She shrugged her right shoulder as she continued her story, "Ava kind encouraged me to try new things—to live a little after Micki, a former band member, suddenly died of an aneurysm. I thought I was still young and needed to try new things… you know, really live a little while I had the chance as back in Ohio… I wasn't exactly one to try out new things."

He glanced to the door and motioned his head. "The blonde on the poster in the living room?"

"Yeah," she answered with a regretful tone. She took several breaths, getting off track for a moment then continuing, "Anyway, Flash wasn't much into a threesome—which was her other suggestion… Had performance issues when it came to that type of situation he said, so… went with the lesbian fling. I was too nervous at first than after hearing what was going on in the next room with Ava and a girl she brought home to try to work things out with my dad… I just went for it… but it just wasn't my thing. I needed ah…"

Alex was starting to look a little uncomfortable with her recalling the events from two months ago, but asked anyway, "What?"

Gigi suddenly felt bashful talking about this with him, but she had been able to freely talk about this with Flash. "Let's just say that I realized that I needed a man to satisfy me… until Flash cheated on me with Ava. I tried exploring something with her in the rebound for five days after we broke up… then I caught her making out with another girl… the girl she had set up with my dad to get over Ava… so yeah, I've had a rough few weeks when it's come to my love life."

"Wow… that's… wow…" He glanced away, trying to process all the details about what had happened. He looked back with a slightly confused expression and pointed out, "But… you started posting pictures with her for something like two months ago and you continued doing it for weeks after and it made it look like you were in a relationship with her."

"I just did that to get more followers and attention."

He knotted his brow and uttered in disbelief, "You 'queer baited' your fans? Making them think you're something you're not?"

Gigi felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, feeling his disappointment of her as he glanced away from her, as if he couldn't stand the sight of her. "I never came out and said it, just… hinted at it and let people draw their own conclusion." She glanced at her lap and pulled her hand away she hadn't realized she was still holding.

Alex reached back over and took her hand back, causing her to look up to see a compassionate gaze.

"Look, I don't agree with you doing that with your fans. It seems underhanded to me, but what happened with Flash and her… that sucks beyond belief… that doesn't seem enough to sum it up. I'm sorry… saying I'm sorry doesn't seem like it's enough either, but… I'm sorry."

The dark haired musician cracked a soft smile and answered with a sweet tone, "It's probably not, but thanks either."

He nodded along then cautiously continued, "I can't imagine how much it hurts that son-of-a-bitch cheated on you with your… surrogate mom?"

She knotted her brow, surprised that he would guess such a relationship between her and Ava.

He refrained from smiling too big as he explained, "I've kept up with your Twitter, remember? That's how you described her and you seemed really happy with her in all the tweets you talk about her and pictures you're with her, I mean really happy with her… happier than most of the time with your mom."

Gigi bowed her head again, clenching her jaw tightly and taking a few deep breaths. She finally uttered in disgust, "Yeah I did, but… that shit is through. It was a bunch of bullshit and I'm fine with it now. I don't have to…"

Alex tucked a finger under her chin and lifted it so her eyes would meet his for another sympathetic gaze on her and asked, "Gigi… you don't have to lie to me… I know that had to hurt and I don't mean just that asshole cheating on you."

She blew out a tired breath and answered, "I'm fine."

He dropped his finger from under her chin and cocked his head to the side and asked with a charming voice, "Virginia…"

She raised a challenging eyebrow and answered, "That's not going to work on me."

Alex got up and looked her directly in the eyes with a cocky smile. "Fine then… the direct approach. Don't lie to me. Show me the respect as your friend not to straight up lie to my face… unless you're planning a surprise birthday party for me then that's okay."

Gigi fought not to crack into a soft laugh, but held a brief staring contest with her former boyfriend. She was the first to break and dropped her chin. She let out a long sigh then reached out for his wrist and tugged him down to retake his seat next to her left. He easily complied then she met his eyes, seeing nothing but patience and understanding.

She continued in a low whisper as if speaking was a challenge, "When I first got here… I really wasn't looking for him to be my father because I needed a songwriter, but… things started happening. I had them move in here with me so I could keep him close and focused. Things were awkward with my dad for those first few weeks…" She laughed with a short snort. "…and a few weeks more after that, questioning whether or not he really loved me or not, but Ava… Ava just embraced me… not for my money or really for the fame… that was just icing on the cake… I mean she just embraced me as if I was…" She bowed her head, unable to meet his gaze. "…was her own."

Alex struggled between a smile and a frown, just looking at her and unsure how to respond to something that was clearly painful for her.

"It was great. I had someone I could really talk to that wasn't a constant struggle… not like my mom… and I felt she really cared about me… really loved me…" She chuckled and shook her head, "We got to a point before my real first performance where all I wanted was that whatever happened with the fame, whether I made it or not, that we were going to be a family… my dad, Ava and me…" Her voice dropped to a sorrowful tone, "…and now…"

The Ohioan farm boy reached out and rested his hand on her hand, lending her the physical support.

Gigi turned her hand over and let his hand slip into her palm then giving him a lazy squeeze. "…after realizing her getting a second chance with being Ava X—after I did everything I could to help her get her chance in the spotlight with my time… with my money—and her now being with Flash… she told me she realized that I already had a mother… that loved me. She was getting her second chance and I would understand when I was older…" She looked up to him with tears brimming from her eyes that showed hurt and anger. "I told her what I told my mother plenty of times… 'fuck you'."

Alex reached out to her with his other hand, cupping her right cheek and brushing away a tear that fell. He pulled her into an embrace, letting her rest her head on his right shoulder. He gently rocked with her a few times and whispered, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Gigi closed her eyes and surrendered to the hug. She swallowed then uttered, "Yeah…"

The inspiring musician pulled back enough to meet his eyes. She dabbed her eyes with her thumb and huffed out in disgust, "That's what I get for deluding myself into having what I always wanted and wanting them to be as happy as me…"

He brushed his left hand up and down her upper right arm and replied, "You can't regret trying to help her out. She was your 'cool surrogate mom' that as you said, really embraced and supported you for you—to have the family she wanted too and… how uptight your mom was about it… she made you happy, so… of course you would want to see her happy and help her out.  
You couldn't have seen this coming… heck, did she see it coming?"

Gigi glanced passed him to look at a picture on her nightstand that she hadn't had the heart to throw out of the woman that had come to mean so much to her yet hurt her so badly without really giving a hint out to anyone how it truly affected her. She turned her head to stare off, getting lost in thought.

Alex could see the hurt in her eyes despite how well she thought she was covering it. He may have been shooting himself in the foot and making things worst, but he couldn't let this harden her heart. "As much as it hurts and how much time and money it may have been wasted, don't regret doing the right thing… don't make them let you regret trying to do the right thing."

Gigi pulled away from him and settled back in her spot on the bed. She took a deep breath through her nose and forced a smile, trying to regain her composure and asked, "I've been dumping all my s-[…] on you, so what have you've been up to?"

He could see it would be pointless to push any further and he really didn't want to emotionally dig into her any further than she could handle. She looked emotionally raw at the moment anyway. He slightly nodded to signal to understand that he needed to drop it. He answered with a casual smile, "I haven't been up to much since you left. I already told you I finished my degree and working for your mom. It's been kind of monotonous to be honest. It's not like New London is the happening place."

"Really? Nothing going on in your personal life?" She tightened her smile as she realized that it pricked at her in asking, "You haven't been seeing anyone?"

"No, not really maybe some coffee here, a diner there, but nothing really serious to warrant more than a handful of dates with anyone. They're attracted to the pretty boy looks, but there really isn't any substance there. I think they're just looking to have a good time and that's it."

She playfully nudged him in the side with an elbow and asked, "What? You can't actually find a decent farm girl for you?"

"They don't want to be farm girls—you certainly didn't—and the ones that do, already gotten with their high school boyfriends that decided to stay. I'd have to go out of town to find someone. It's not like I'm going to date Becky."

Gigi snorted a breath and asked with a half smile, "What's wrong with Becky?"

He cocked his head to the side and answered, "We've never clicked that way and isn't there a rule about dating an ex's friend?"

She took a short breath then half grinned. "Yeah, yeah… I see your point."

They fell into a comfortable silence, neither sure where to go as they had effectively dumped everything out on one another.

Gigi suddenly jumped up and breathed out, "I don't know about you, but… I think I need to get some air."

Alex could see and hear that she did need to decompress from all the emotional heavy lifting she had just done in catching him up to what had happened over the nearly last year. "Any ideas?"

"We could hang out here or… do you want to hit some of the bar scenes? See some of New York's nightlife?"

"You know I was never much into that, but… how about we just go out for an early dinner then to a movie and at your next performance at one of those places, I'll be your biggest fan?"

Gigi smiled at the compromise and answered, "Sure. Sounds fine. I'll change into something a little more comfortable."

He grabbed the inside edges of his plaid shirt, glancing down at his chest and asked, "Should I go change?"

"No, you look great."

She got up from the bed and walked to her closet. She opened it up and skimmed through the selection, debating on what to wear for the evening. She heard over her shoulder Alex getting up from the bed and heading for the door, but she called out to him with a laugh, "Unh ah, have a seat. I'm not going leave you alone out there with them."

She looked over her shoulder to with a smirking expression, lifting one corner of her mouth and flicked an eyebrow seeing his confused expression. She continued in a teasing voice, "What? It's not like you haven't seen me undressed before…"

Alex dropped his chin and cleared his throat then answered embarrassingly, "Yes, but… that's been a while ago and I don't think it'd be all that appropriate for me to see you that way now."

The former couple shared a look, Gigi feeling a bit playful in teasing him. "I guess you'll just have to manage something…"

Alex walked back to the bed, but this time took a seat on the left side of the bed, turning his back to her.

She watched him for a moment, suppressing a laugh at his bashful manner. She turned back to her closet and thought about the perfect outfit to wear to them casually going out. She thought to herself, _'Something that will show off a bit of leg and some cleavage…'_

After going through just a handful of dark outfits, she pulled out a black dress and pulled out her knee-high boots at the foot of the closet then grabbed her baby blue jacket. She turned and set the items on the bed then began to undress. She kept her eyes on the back of his head after pulling off her shirt, wondering if he would try to take a peek.

She took a few minutes to change, stripping to her bare necessities in the process. She licked her teeth at seeing him patiently waiting without looking back, only seeing a slight movement of his head to study the wall in front of him and the decorations.

She finished changing then headed to her bedroom for a moment to touch up her makeup after some shed tears. She returned in less than a minute to grab her boots to walk around the bed to have a seat next to him. She gave him a teasing smile as she slipped her right foot into it and pulled it up her leg.

Alex looked a little wide eyed at seeing her in the short black dress with the spaghetti straps (the one unknown to him that she has worn to Ava's first performance on stage) that showed her upper chest, a fair amount of cleavage and bare shoulders and arms, but not a distasteful amount and bare arms.

Gigi innocently grinned as she pulled up the zipper on the inside of her chine to secure the boot to her leg. "Like the outfit?"

The young man chuckled and answered, "It's quite nice on you."

"Just nice?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she pulled the other boot up her left leg.

He cleared his throat then asked, "Gigi… I don't know what to say as your friend instead of your boyfriend… where that line of what's appropriate to say is drawn now between us."

She cocked her head to the right, smiling warmly at him and answered, "What would you say to me if we were still together?"

"Really?"

"Go for it."

He took a breath then gave her a warm smile as he answered, "You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress… and it'll be hard to tear my eyes away from you tonight."

Her smile grew to the point of almost breaking her face and commented, "Thanks… you always knew how to sweet talk a girl… and make them feel pretty."

He leaned towards her just a few inches from her face, giving her a boyish grin that had made her knees weak a few times in high school, and asked, "When have I ever sweet talked you?"

She licked her lips, wearing an almost devious smile then stood up, grabbing his hand in the process for him to stand up with her.

* * *

The sliding door opened and Gigi led Alex out into the dinning room and towards the curious parents hanging around the kitchen island.

Cat was quick to ask as it appeared to her that they were heading out with Gigi having changed, "So, where are you off to?"

They stopped a few feet in front of the older couple and Gigi spared a glance to Alex before pulling her arms through the jacket sleeves then pulling the garment over her shoulders and answered, "We're going to go out for an early dinner then catching a movie."

The concerned mother rhetorically asked, "Oh… going out for dinner and a movie?"

Gigi lazily answered as Alex handed back her purse, "Yeah, we're just going to go out and have some fun."

The overbearing mother raised a finger and reminded, "Just don't stay out and have too much fun. You have to be ready for rehearsals tomorrow."

The inspiring musician squinted, feeling a little offended that she'd go overboard. She dryly answered, "We'll be fine." She didn't want a potential argument to break out between them, so she took Alex by the hand and pulled him along with her towards the door. She called out over her shoulder before pulling the door shut behind them, "See you later."

The door slammed, cutting off any retort from the former backup singer. Cat crossed her arms and blew out a breath that caused her nostrils to flare.

Johnny joked to try to defuse the tension, "Well… at least we know what the banging wasn't in her room."

"Right… I'm going to go through his things," she casually answered then turned and walked towards Gigi's room.

Johnny snapped his head in surprise, watching with a dumbfounded expression.

After a quick walk and subway trip, the former couple arrived at a small little dinner that she had eaten a few meals with her father, one occasion sticking out was when he relented and said he would get a tattoo for her. The pair sat across from each other in one of the booths and after a quick glancing of the menu, he ordered a hamburger with a side of fries while she had a healthy looking salad.

The former couple didn't have to wait long for the waiter to return with their drinks and respective plates, sitting each in front of the patrons. Alex gave a quick thanks to him then the pair shared a smile and dug into their respective meals.

They quietly ate for a few minutes, sharing an occasional look before Gigi finally broke the silence, "You know after the coffee with my parents and our talk… bearing my soul back at my place, I'm not sure what there is left to talk about."

Alex finished a quick sip from his drink then answered, "You don't have to make conversation if you don't want to. We don't have to fill the air. We can just sit here and enjoy a nice meal together. I think it might do you some good just to decompress after everything you told me."

She looked down at her meal, tightening her smile, and apologized, "I'm sorry for dumping all that s-[…] on you. You come here to visit, not listen to all my problems."

He shrugged a shoulder and answered, "It's okay. I asked. You needed to talk and I was there to listen."

She glanced up and teased, "What are you? My beta male best friend now? We can go out shopping and you can hold my purse?"

He snorted out dismissively before taking a sip of his drink, "Yeah, I'm a beta male." He put the glass down, slightly turned his head with a coy smile and added, "Last time I 'held your purse' while shopping… it was either for a sexy Halloween costume or… swimwear, something I'm not going to complain about. I think you actually tweeted a pic of one them after you cut your hair and lightened it up before leaving."

Gigi started laughing louder, remembering how they had went to Mansfield for a decent place for her to go shopping and she had 'rewarded' him for his patience with some bikini shopping. She recalled about tweeting that pic out… then using it for her father to entice Flash to come back to the bad, which quickly soured the memory. She tried to keep her smile and not let him see that he accidentally spoiled the mood.

He fortunately came to the rescue by asking, "Do you feel better though? I mean saying it out loud and taking a different perspective about what happened?"

The raven haired colored musician squinted and wondered, "I'm not sure what perspective you think I should take away from that? My boyfriend cheated on me with my surrogate mother and the girl that I thought I could safely rebound with started making out with someone in less than a week."

"What did you take away from those experiences?"

She refrained from mentioning that he was sounding like her dad, but answered, "That chainsaws are the shit?"

Alex tightened his smile, finding the statement a bit out of left field as he didn't understand the reference. He chuckled out a short breath then answered with a curious tone, "Besides that?"

"That… I have really shitty taste in people I trust. I guess I trusted too quickly with Davvy then there was Ava and Flash…" She glanced down at her salad, poking it a little with her fork. "…that they… the people I thought I could count on and start a real family with just violated my trust without a second thought… no, I take that back. They did have a second thought by telling me a few weeks later so they could be open about being together, but didn't have an ounce of remorse for it. I know not to make that mistake again…"

He asked with concern lacing his voice, "What mistake is that?"

She looked up from her plate with almost deadened eyes and answered, "Trusting people."

Alex slouched his shoulders then quietly asked, "How do you trust me then?"

Gigi slightly squinted, unsure if she had heard him correctly and asked, "What?"

"Me, how do you trust _me_ if you feel that way now?"

She snorted out, not believing his question, and answered, "I know you."

"You knew them—or at least Flash and Ava—and look what happened. We haven't talked in months. You've certainly changed, so how do you know I haven't changed? Changed into someone you can't trust."

Gigi frowned, quickly losing her appetite. She sharply retorted, "I've known you for years. You haven't changed. You just finished school and worked with the horses like you've always done. And how have I changed? And I don't mean the hair."

He cocked his head to the side and asked with a clipped tone, "After what you told me what you've done over the last few months, is that a serious question?"

She sat up in her seat and gave him a cold stare.

He closed lipped smiled and glanced to the table, dryly remarking, "Okay, serious question…" He lifted his chin to meet her eyes and answered, "You went out to have a lesbian fling on the advice of your almost stepmother because you wanted a change and to experience new things—be wild and free and you did it. Then you started posting pics pretending to be something you're not—let's call it for what it is: you are lying to people, people who might be looking up to you so they can feel comfortable for who and what they are and you did it for followers. I have a feeling there's been a few other things that have happened that you haven't shared on Twitter and Instagram that in hindsight, you wouldn't approve of yourself doing."

She sighed in frustration and asked through gritted teeth, "What is your point? Other than tearing me a new one?"

Alex sighed then calmly answered, "My point iiiissss… that just because they had to act that way, you shouldn't let them change you into being someone that is untrusting of everyone around you. Yeah, there are going to be people in this industry that will try to take advantage of you in an instant…"

He had to catch himself from pointing out one in particular who looked like she was going to do exactly that.

"…but you can't paint everyone with a broad brush like that because it will leave you lonely and bitter about life and… where does that leave the ones that really care about you?"

Gigi wanted to be furious at him for what sounded like a lecture, but she could see in his eyes his genuine concern for her  
She glanced to the table and remarked in a quite voice, "I'm really not sure who those people are anymore… I just wanted…"

Alex reached over and palmed his hand over her left hand, curling his fingers over the inside of her thumb and fingers to give her a reassuring squeeze.

She looked up at him with a tired smile.

"It'll work out Virginia. It'll be okay."

She lulled her head to the right and huffed out with a smile, "Taking a leap of faith there?"

"Since yours seems to be a beaten up a little recently, I guess I can do it for you."

She dipped her chin and slightly shook her head, a smile growing on her face. She looked up, brushing some of her loose hair from off her face and spoke, "We better get onto this meal. We don't want to be late for the movie."

Alex smiled and let go of her hand, visibly showing that he was letting go of the conversation.

The former couple started back on their meals, exchanging small smiles with one another throughout to show that as emotionally draining as the last few conversations were for them—particularly Gigi—that everything was alright between them.

The Pavilion Theater

188 Prospect Park West

Brooklyn, NY 11215

The old friends finished their meal up with time to spare, but Gigi was eager for them to reach the theater. Alex had quickly covered the tab with a tip before heading out and in no time, they had reached the movie theater.

The former couple approached the box-office and fortunately there wasn't much of a line. As they waited, Alex glanced up at the options of movies. He glanced to his companion and asked, "Are you up for a horror movie?"

Gigi lifted a corner of her mouth, fighting back a smirk.

Alex turned back to the theater employee just as the couple ahead of them had grabbed their tickets and raised two fingers as he asked, "Two for 'The Darkness'."

The cashier nodded his head and after a quick exchanged of cash for the tickets, the former couple slipped inside the theater complex.

After a quick stop at the concession stand for individual popcorns and drinks, Gigi led the way inside the theater. They slipped inside and saw that it was halfway filled to capacity, so they had their choice of seats. She continued leading him down the aisle then stopped in front of a seat and turned her head to smile at him, waiting for him to join her. He returned the smile then they took their respective seats.

As they were a few minutes early, the lights hadn't gone all the way down so it was easy to settle and bring down the armrests. He sat his drink on his right while Gigi slipped hers into the cup holder to her left, keeping the armrest between them up.

Gigi idly commented, "It's been a while since we've done this… it's been a while since I did this with anyone."

He threw a curious look to her and asked, "You didn't do this with Flash?"

She tightened her smile and awkwardly answered, "There were too many odd looks when we went out together and… asking if he was my dad."

Alex quickly took a quick sip from the straw of his drink, finding refuge in his drink and knowing that he shouldn't make any comment.

Gigi picked up exactly what he was doing and dryly remarked, "Yeah…"

An awkward silence fell between the young early twenty-somethings and they waited for the lights to dim and the first previews started playing. The previews to upcoming movies weren't too enthralling, but fortunately didn't last long as the movie began.

As the filmed played, the tension naturally built up and Gigi noticed for the first time that a few of the moviegoers were couples around their age and they were naturally being drawn to one another, primarily them reaction on an instinctive level of the girls snuggling up to their dates.

Gigi wasn't sure why or even consciously aware of it, perhaps out of habit when they went to the movies together in New London, she snuck her hand over to rest on his knee.

Alex got the message and shifted his hand resting on his thigh and slipped it to rest on top of her hand. He curled his fingers under her hand and brushing his thumb over her fingers.

The dark haired singer realized what had happened and bashfully smiled in embarrassment where her hand had wandered. She thought about glancing over to see his reaction, but his thumb brushing over her fingers told her that everything was fine.

She suppressed a smile and took a sip from her drink, settling into watching the movie and holding his hand to confirm his presence in the increasingly heightened tension.

Gigi's Apartment

New York, NY

Gigi opened the door to her apartment, laughing up a storm with her companion, not caring how much noise they made. They entered the apartment then shut the door, Gigi sparing a moment to lock it behind them. She led him down the short hallway to the living room where the laughter quickly ceased when they spotted Johnny and Cat sitting on the couch watching television.

Cat innocently smiled up at her daughter and Johnny attempted to look casual while Gigi knotted her brow and quickly questioned, "Were you waiting up for us?"

The short haired woman put on an 'innocent' smile and answered, "Of course not sweetie. I didn't wait up for you when you two were dating, why would I start now? We were just watching some TV before bed."

The former Ohioan farm girl stared at her mother for a few moments, not believing for a moment her innocent act. "Okay… anything good on?"

"Not really. All the shows seemed to have had their season finales, so they've already started reruns. Did you have a good evening?"

Gigi cocked her head and studied her mother for a second, feeling doubtful she was getting the truth, but she was in too good a mood to argue with her, so she answered with a pleasant voice, "Yeah. We had a nice little dinner and saw a good horror movie. No complaints."

Johnny carefully studied his daughter and couldn't miss the vibe of happiness coming off of her like a well hit note on a guitar. He internally swore about wishing the young man had been around months earlier then they wouldn't of had to deal with all the bull-[….] surrounding her relationship with Flash.

Cat saw the same happiness in her daughter that Johnny spotted. She was torn in seeing that Gigi was happy, but not for the right reasons at the moment when they were so close to landing her a record deal. She realized that she'd have us a more delicate touch than she had with manipulating the situation to get the Heathens out of the picture. She turned on a charming smile and answered, "I'm glad you enjoyed the little reunion. Any other _plans_ for the evening?"

Gigi bit her tongue, knowing exactly what her mother was implying. She wouldn't lie to herself that the thought hadn't crossed her mind at least once during the evening, which she chalked up to old time sakes.

Alex maintained a polite smile and joked, "I was planning to hit the couch. It's been a long day for me, but you're currently occupying it for the moment."

Cat practically leapt off the couch as she stood up. "Oh, sorry."

Johnny stood up and answered with a laugh, "Right, yeah…"

The mother patted her daughter on the shoulder and sweetly commented, "We'll be heading to bed and you have a goodnight sweetie."

Gigi forced a smile and answered, "Sure mom… just don't get too loud…" She glanced to Alex and finished in a dry tone, "…we have a guest tonight."

Cat's smile faltered for a moment, seeing that her offspring could fire back in an equally subtle manner. "We're be fine honey… you didn't realize I was back until the next morning."

The pale singer struggled with her smile, recalling that morning nearly two weeks ago catching her parents in bed. They had made a night of it and she hadn't heard even a peep from the other side of the apartment. "Right… goodnight mom… dad…"

Johnny leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek and patted her shoulder, "Goodnight honey."

Cat charmingly smiled and bid a goodnight, "Alex."

He politely nodded and answered, "Ma'am.'"

The parents headed back to Johnny's room with Cat throwing another look over her shoulder to eyeball the former couple.

Once they had disappeared down the hallway and around the corner, Alex turned his attention to Gigi and stated, "I'll use your bathroom then get out of your hair for the night."

He cut through the dinning room to her bedroom and knelt down to his luggage and moved one suitcase to the side before pulling the zipper open. He lifted the lid to grab some night clothes, but paused when he noticed something odd about his belongings. He knotted his brow then looked over his left shoulder towards the open door of the bedroom.

Gigi noticed his confusion and asked, "What?"

He glanced up at her and answered, "It might just be my imagination, but… I think someone's been through my stuff."

The aspiring musician laughed, "Yeah, that's what airport security does: they go through your stuff."

Alex's brow knotted as he answered in a cool voice, "I took a bus here."

Gigi took a moment to realize the ramifications of his answer then crossed her arms and turned to head out of her room, cursing under her breath, "That bitch…"

He quickly stood up and gently grabbed her elbow to pull her to a stop.

She snapped to a stop and looked at him.

He tried to disarm her anger with a sweet smile then answered, "It can wait until morning. It's late enough as it is and you need to get your sleep. You have rehearsals tomorrow and a meeting sometime this week."

She studied his eyes for a few seconds then sighed, "I hate your rational thought."

His grin grew as he answered with a hint of smugness in his voice, "Yeah… you do."

She fought a smile and shook her head, torn in wanting either to slap the smirk off his face or… kiss the smirk off his face.

Satisfied that he had won the argument and saved a battle for the morning, he knelt back down to his suitcase and pulled out the night clothes he was planning to wear and his toiletry then headed to her bathroom to change.

Gigi took a seat on the bed and pulled off one boot at a time then stood up to slip out of her dress. She sat back down and carefully lifted one leg at a time to pull the garment off without damaging it then headed for her closet to put it away and get her own evening wear.

After she changed into a new set of underwear and pulled on an old large sleeveless button up black shirt where the hem ended at her upper thigh, she headed for the bathroom. She paused at the door and took a cautious peak around the frame of the door, spotting him already changed into another athletic shirt and boxers while starting to brush his teeth. She slipped into the room and beside him, throwing an innocent gaze to him before moving to the sink the wash off her face for the evening.

Gigi scrubbed and rinsed her face off then reached for a towel to her left to dry her face. She sat the towel at the end of the counter then picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste. He returned the smile once she glanced in his direction as she pasted her brush then joined him in brushing her teeth. They playfully exchanged looks in the mirror as they brushed, smiling through the activity.

They alternated spitting and rinsing their mouths, avoiding their heads from colliding. They rinsed off their brushes and he found a place next to her brush in the toothbrush holder to drop his blue toothbrush.

They shared another smile then Alex gathered up his clothes, threw them over his left forearm and grabbed his boots before they headed out the room. He dropped his boots next to his suitcase then folded his jeans twice then sat them on top of his open suitcase. He tossed the undershirt and plaid shirt onto the jeans.

He turned to her and sighed out with a grin, "Well… have a good night."

"Yeah, you too," she sweetly answered with a smile.

He started on his way to the living room, but Gigi slapped her forehead with her palm and uttered, "Stupid, forgot you'll need a pillow and blanket." She walked over to one of the drawers inside her closet and opened it up, pulling out a light blanket. She stood up and reached over for one of her pillows on the bed then walked with him out into the rest of the apartment.

He snorted out a soft laugh and took the pillow and blanket from her, throwing it at one end of the couch then tossing the blanket over the furniture.

The former couple looked to one another again and Alex remarked, "Goodnight again."

"Goodnight."

Gigi paused for a moment then in almost a blink of an eye, kissed his right cheek.

Alex bashfully smiled as she took a few steps back then turned to head to her room. He watched her for a few seconds until she entered her room and closed the door behind her. He shook his head then walked around the end of the couch to have a seat then lie on his side. He adjusted the pillow at the end then rested his head on it, snuggling against it and instantly realizing her scent on it invading his nostrils. He couldn't help but smile as he tried to settle in to sleep in the unfamiliar surroundings.

In Gigi's room, the young musician closed the door behind her then walked over to Alex's luggage. She glanced over it a second then bent down and reached for the discarded plaid shirt. She slipped her arms through the sleeves then pulled it closed to wrap over her body. She smiled in satisfaction then walked over her bed and slipped under the sheet and snuggled up with her pillow. She took several deep breaths, breathing in his scent she had missed over the last ten months.

A content smile formed as she peacefully dozed off to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry if it was a lot of emotional lifting and exposition so that Alex could catch up with a lot of what's been going and sketching out their relationship. The plot should pick up in the next chapter. Thanks again for reading and show your appreciation by leaving some feedback in that box below. You don't have to register.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello dear readers, this is long overdue, but I've had a lot going on in my life in the last month. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this update and please let me know what you think.

shelia74: Thank you and yes, I am continuing this piece. I hope you like this update.

Guest: Thank you. I hope you like where I am taking their relationship as this story unfolds.

Emily: Thank you. I hope you will like this update as well.

Fanfic-Reader-88: That guy went through an epic journey to overcome those flaws, so it was well earned by him. I know I haven't been the most supportive of that character, but I've tried to give him a fair shake when writing him and will do so with this character.

It's a good question about how much influence an ex will have even if it is good advice.

Rating: T (Language)

* * *

Chapter 3

Gigi's Apartment  
New York City, NY  
Tuesday, May 2016

The time was fairly early in the morning when Johnny walked out of the hallway leading from his bedroom to the kitchen. He was still half asleep, but he immediately noticed Gigi and Alex sitting across from one another at the kitchen island. Gigi wore a delightful expression as she ate on her plate of waffles with a side dish of sliced fruit, a small bowl of cereal and a bagel. Alex had some of his hair tied up behind the back of his head with some loose strains framing his face. He wore a more constrained expression of a softer smile as he ate a spoonful of cereal, watching his former girlfriend enjoy her breakfast. They looked like they hadn't been up for too long, but didn't look like they had rolled out of bed together. However, if he wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn the plaid shirt she was wearing was the same one Alex had worn yesterday when they met.

The sight was a bit surreal and far better one regardless if they had slept together than those mornings he would see Flash walking out of Gigi's room in basically a Speedo and open silk robe, one where many would want to bleach their eyes after witnessing. He wasn't exactly in the best of shape besides the fact he was leaving the washed up rock star's daughter's bedroom.

Johnny didn't give it any further thought and cleared his throat, casually greeting his daughter, "Morning sweetie."

Gigi finished the forkful of waffle and answered, "Morning dad."

The aging rocker turned a pleasant smile to Alex as he walked behind him to grab the pot of coffee that was brewing in the coffeemaker. He glanced over his shoulder as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "Morning Alex."

The Ohioan farm boy slightly turned his head to look over his shoulder and answered, "Morning Mister Rock."

Johnny chuckled as he turned and stood to the young man's right, "You don't have to call me 'Mister Rock'. It makes me feel old."

"You are old dad," Gigi commented with a sly smile.

He gave her a smartass grin and raised his coffee mug in acknowledgement. He patted Alex on the right shoulder and spoke, "You can just call me Johnny."

"Alright Johnny," he answered before picking up his piece of toast and taking a bite out of it.

Johnny took a sip from his mug and asked with a shit-eating grin, "So, you two have a good night?"

Gigi's smile slightly faltered, hearing what he was implying happened between the former couple after he and her mother retired to his bedroom. She had no interest in her father questioning her sex life, especially after the last time she took his advice getting involved with someone that turned into a disaster that eventually led to another disaster.

Alex shrugged a shoulder and answered, "The couch was comfortable enough. I'm not too stiff. A good shower should loosen up the muscles."

Johnny appeared to be a little surprised that Alex had remained on the couch, but quickly looked like he wanted to make a joke about what shower he would use and if he would be sharing it with anyone. However, Gigi turned a gaze to him that suggested he should keep it to himself.

Cat walked around the corner into the kitchen wearing a robe pulled and tied around her body. She turned a forced smile to Gigi and greeted her, "Morning sweetie."

"Morning mom," she answered just less than a warm welcome, quickly turning to eat another piece of her waffle.

The Ohioan farm woman let it go for the moment and grabbed the bread from the pantry, pulling out a slice and opening the refrigerator to grab the butter. She grabbed a knife and buttered the bread while speaking to Alex, "Morning Alex."

"Morning Miss Zakarian."

Cat finished buttering her bread then popped it into the toaster then turned to Gigi as she waited for it to toast. "So… did you have a nice night?"

Gigi raised a cautious eyebrow and answered a tad annoyed, "You know how our night went. You were waiting up for us. We had dinner then we saw a movie."

The older Zakarian tightened her smile and clarified, "Right… what I meant was did you sleep well? And what kind of movie?"

She took a quick sip from her juice then answered, "Horror, but I slept like a baby, no complaints."

Cat glanced over her daughter and replied with a smirk, "Apparently with a security blanket to keep all the monsters at bay."

Gigi looked down at seeing that she was still wearing Alex's shirt from the previous night. She cleared her throat and with her right hand pulled the shirt tighter around her body. She casually remarked with a semi-embarrassing smile, "I got chilly last night and since he just tossed it on his suitcases in my room…"

The shorted haired woman cocked an eyebrow as she grabbed herself a cup of coffee. "Right…"

The mother and daughter were eyeing one another, trying to mentally and emotionally size each other up.

Johnny darted his eyes back and forth, seeing the potential showdown and didn't want any part of it.

Alex casually continued eating on his cereal and reaching over to steal a piece of Gigi's bagel. He was quite used to these non-verbal stare offs between them, so he didn't pay much attention to them.

The toaster dinged and Cat turned to it to retrieve her toast. She carefully pulled it out by her forefinger and thumbnails, blowing on it to cool it off. She grabbed a plate from inside one of the cabinet's and dropped it on the plate. She sat it on the island then stood beside Alex. She grabbed the edges of the toast and asked, "So what do you have planned today for you two?"

Gigi took a quick sip from her juice then answered, "I thought we'd spend the morning showing Alex the tourist traps around the city, let him get a taste for it then get lunch and meet back for rehearsals."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see Central Park and hit the museums then we have to go to the Empire State Building at some point while I'm here," Alex happily rattled off just a number of places he was looking forward to visiting.

Cat tightened her smile and reluctantly answered, "Sorry sweetie, I forgot to mention it when you got in. I called the band last night and I moved up the rehearsals for this morning so you'll be fresh for rehearsals, so… you'll have to wait this afternoon."

Gigi turned a glare to her mother and bit her tongue, wanting to curse her out. She could smell her mother trying to interfere from a mile away, but she didn't need senses that fine-tuned to see what she was doing. She just didn't understand why though as she had always liked Alex. She took several calming breaths, trying to settle her nerves and turned a pleasant smile to her. "It's okay… we'll get that out of the way then have lunch…" She looked to Alex and added, "We can take in an afternoon show or anything else we want to do for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We won't have to rush."

Cat's smile faltered, seeing that Gigi had casually undid her plans to separate the former couple for the day. She may have interrupted their morning, but they'd still be together during lunch then take off as soon as it was polite enough to leave instead of spending more time with the band. She may have been selling Gigi to the music executives, but she needed the band to mesh well and be on good terms.

Gigi turned back to her breakfast, picking up eating. She would have rather had a lazy breakfast with Alex, but now she just wanted to get out of the room and get ready. She could find sanctuary in practicing and pouring her frustrations into her music, leaving her free of the emotional baggage to be free to spend the rest of the day to themselves.

Alex could spot the annoyance and frustration Gigi was attempting to hid in his sleep—which he actually had a few times when they were a couple where a quick tighter embrace and a kiss on her forehead would usually settle her for the rest of the night.

The rest of the breakfast was awkwardly silent as the former couple ate while the parents went about fixing their respective breakfasts. They tried to strike up conversations to break the silence, but Gigi would have none of that as she focused on her breakfast and passed occasional glances to Alex, hoping he got the message in not engaging them in conversation.

Gigi wrapped up her waffle and fruit with her bagel half eaten. She swallowed the last few gulps of her juice then commented, "I'm going to go grab a shower and get ready." She passed a look to Alex and added, "I'll try not to use all the hot water for you,"

"I'd appreciate that," he answered with a smile.

The aspiring singer grabbed her bagel and took a few more bites from it as she headed for her bathroom. As soon as Gigi was around the corner of the door to her bedroom and out of sight, Cat walked around to the opposite side of the island to face Alex and turned an accusing gaze at him, demanding, "What are you doing here Alex?"

Alex was momentarily caught off guard for a second by the sheer vitriol in her voice, but he quickly recovered and answered in a calm voice, "I thought I was quite clear yesterday. I'm just checking up on her now that I have some time to visit her." He took one of his last spoonfuls of cereal to show that he wasn't fazed by her behavior.

Cat repeated poked her finger into the surface of the kitchen island and demanded, "Don't play innocent with me. I want to know why you're here now. Why you didn't visit her sooner, but right now. Not weeks ago, not next week, but right now."

Alex good natured expression he had worn since he arrived was replaced with a cold stare and answered in a crisp tone, "You."

"Me?"

"Yes. I thought you were just visiting after you let me go, but then I read she broke up with her boyfriend and gotten a new band and then the leaked video… you throw in that you were begging me to break her and that Flash guy and maybe even getting her back to Ohio months ago, but now you're her biggest supporter to make it big. I know you're up to something and it's not her best interests you have at heart, but your own."

He nodded towards Gigi's bedroom as he continued, "I just know what it is now—the same as she's suspecting now—with the farm being foreclosed, you're just in it for the money now. You're hoping she'll be your meal ticket and I'm here to make sure you don't hurt her."

Cat closed her mouth, clenching her jaw tightly before replying with a defensive tone, "Hey, times got tight and I couldn't afford the mortgage anymore. I'm not here to take advantage of my daughter, but support her because I realized that I couldn't deny what she was anymore. I couldn't impose what I wanted for her, but now I'm doing a damn fine job of seeing that she reaches her dream."

Alex shook his head and snorted out, "I wouldn't deny that from what I've heard with her rehearsals and her meeting with music reps later this week, but you can't seriously tell me that it wouldn't be out of line to question your motivations after you've tried to convince her not to be a singer all her life just when you've ran out of money."

The former backup singer sharply retorted, "I don't give a damn what you question. The only thing I care about is you not sabotaging her before her meeting with those record executives and I'm not going to let you do that."

Alex relaxed back in his seat and smiled, just smiled that confused Johnny and infuriated Cat. "When have I ever sabotaged or stood in Gigi's way with what she wanted? Hasn't that been your job all these years?"

As the old saying went, if looks could kill… Alex wouldn't be six feet under, he'd be finer ashes than Micki.

Alex unflinchingly met her gaze.

Johnny stood on the sidelines, looking absolutely stunned that someone could stand up to Cat.

Cat braced her hands on the edge of the counter, trying to regain the verbal initiative. "You're here because you care? You're really here to 'protect' her from me? You don't want a piece of that fortune she's going to make?"

"I'm going to be here for however she needs me. I'm not going to take her money. I'm not going to leach off of her as you and it looks like baby daddy over here intends."

"Hey!" Johnny shouted out offended by the accusation.

He passed him a barely patient gaze then looked back to Cat and pointedly reminded her, "If I wanted to… be along for the ride to her stardom, I would have been on the bus that day with her, not staying and waving from the station."

The former backup singer straightened up, momentarily caught flatfooted with his practical point. She cleared her throat then asked, "Why didn't you get on that bus then?"

"That's none of your business," he answered in a clipped tone and cold stare. "The only thing you need to know is that you're not going to drain her dry and use her as a meal ticket. If you're going to be her manager then be her manager—an honest manager—and don't pretend that you actually care about her for her own sake as your daughter."

Cat stared at her, ready to ring his neck as he had openly pegged her motivations and weren't afraid to say them. What was worst is that he had the credibility to point them out unlike Flash and Ava.

Alex finished his last spoonful of cereal and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have a shower to wait for." He picked up the bowl as he walked around the kitchen island. He dropped the bowl in the sink, giving Cat a guarded stare then headed to Gigi's room.

He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He closed his eyes and deeply sighed then walked to the bathroom, but stopped just outside the room. He heard the shower running, so he knocked on the open door and called out, "Gigi?"

The water turned off after a few seconds and Gigi called out in a confused tone, "Alex?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that I'm in your room… I ah… the tension was getting a little much with your parents, so I came in here to… 'hide'."

Gigi pulled the curtain back just enough to poke her head out and asked, "What did my mom do?"

They caught each other's gazes in the bathroom mirror. He shrugged a shoulder and answered, "Finish your shower then I'll tell you. It's a little awkward talking to you like this."

"You could always come in," she teased with a wicked smile.

Alex closed his eyes and breathed out, fighting back a laugh. "I'll be in your room."

"Suit yourself…" she answered with a flick of her eyebrows.

He shared a smile with her then turned back to step back into her room. He heard the water start running again and went to his luggage and started pulling out his closes he would be wearing for the day. He grabbed another undershirt and a lighter shirt, a black thin shirt that could double as a dress shirt. He pulled out another pair of boxers and jeans then tossed them onto one side of Gigi's bed.

He took a seat on the bed and let out a sigh, wondering how in the world he was actually going to protect Gigi from her obvious money grubbing parents and help her get back on track.

As he was lost in thought, Gigi stepped out of the bathroom with her rob around her and her hair up in a towel. She crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "So what happened?"

He lazily shrugged his shoulders and answered, "She asked me why I was here, I told her why—to check up on you and… make sure she didn't pull anything on you. You needed someone in your corner that's actually cares about you and she didn't like it. She said she was in it for you because you're her daughter."

Gigi slightly lifted her chin and a dawn of realization appeared on her face. "So… it's just not for a friendly visit? You're here to… 'support' me? You don't think mom's here because she actually cares?"

He offered a weak smile and answered, "I'm here for someone you can count on, but I know after the last few weeks… I know that will be an uphill battle for me since I know that won't be the easiest thing to do even if you want to." He took a quick breath and finished before she could respond about him questioning her trust in him, "I told her that I think she's just using you for money now that the farm has foreclosed and she's running out of money."

He waited for her to admonish him for making the accusation against her mother, but Gigi just muttered in disgust, "Flash said she was out for blood and that it was my dad that was out for money."

Alex eyes went a little wide, being a little surprised that she didn't dismiss his concern out of hand. He recovered with a clearing of his throat and replied, "I've never doubted your mother from having more than one goal and… you know what they say about a broken clock… an asshole clock…"

She snorted out a soft laugh then continued, "…I didn't want to admit he had a point in front of my dad, because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right, but… It did cross my mind that could be a possibility. I basically accused them of that as soon as I found them together… I suspected they had some diabolical plan for me, but the plan…" She glanced down at the floor then back to him to ask, "You really think so too? I'm just not being over paranoid?"

He reached up and gently clasped over her wrist, pulling her hand from between her side and bicep to take it. He slightly tugged on her to sit down beside him and she relented. She turned a tired smile to him as he answered, "After everything she did to keep you in Ohio, pushed me to try to get you back and now she's suddenly your biggest cheerleader with the farm being foreclosed on? You can't be intellectually honest and discount the possibility that she's only in it for the money. The time is just too convenient for her change of heart."

Gigi turned and shook her head in disgust, feeling emotionally drained and she hadn't even been up for an hour. "I can't argue with that… her plan is to get rich."

He gently corrected her, "Her goal is to get rich. Her plan… the 'diabolical plan' for you is apparently to make you the star you've always wanted to be… It's where her greediness and your dream happen to be on the same path, so…" He nodded his head back and forth with a bit of mild frustration. "…it's not like she's this grand villain we have to overcome by finding a way to sabotage her plan. We foil her plan and we foil your dream."

She sighed and glanced away, palming her forehead. She dropped her hand a moment later and looked to him with a tired smile. "Then what do I do? What do I do with her?" She flicked her eyebrows up and sardonically laughed, "Or do I have to do anything at all with her?"

Alex slipped his fingers into her hand that he had tentatively been holding since he tugged her to sit with him. He gave her a supportive smile and answered, "It's what I told her, which she didn't like: don't pretend that you're in it to see her dream come true for her sake. If they're going to be your managers then be your managers, not pretend that they care about you because you're their daughter."

Gigi glanced away, feeling drained as she had to face what she knew was true but wished it wasn't so. She quietly muttered, "So I've been reduced to having my parents really being my managers and nothing more."

The long haired horse handler turned a sympathetic gaze and replied, "Yeah… they'll be ruthless to get you to the top since you'll be pulling them to the top with you, but… they won't be your family… you'll be…"

He trailed, taking a deep sigh as he didn't like his conclusion.

She knotted her brow and asked, "I'll be what?"

"Very lonely at the top… a prisoner to your own success with the people around you only because they want their share of the spoils."

Gigi let his words sink into her mind, perhaps her soul and instantly recalling what she had told her father several times in those early months about the importance of family to her then what she had told that quack doctor that her worst fear was that the family she had created with them would fall apart. What good was it to make it to the top if she had no one to truly share it with? Be trapped alone in some big mansion with adoring fans around the world? It was a situation/problem that many people probably love to have to handle, but to her, it suddenly felt terrifying.

She sniffled and turned her head before he could see any stray tears that were forming to fall.

Alex sighed out, feeling completely helpless at the moment in how to help her.

The dark haired singer cleared her throat and tried to wipe under her eye in a casual manner. She turned back to him with a bright closed lip and obviously forced smile. "I'll let you have the shower."

He knew well enough not to push, even if he hadn't been at a loss to say anything that would be helpful in that situation. He simply nodded and answered, "Thanks."

"You don't mind if I fix my hair and makeup while you're in there, do you?"

Alex grinned and teased, "Well, it is your bathroom, but as long as you don't try to take a peak of me while I'm in there?"

Gigi's eyes lit up and she gave him a teasing smirk. "What? It's not like I haven't seen anything before…"

The long haired farmhand stood up and politely smiled, adding, "You're doing your best to try to embarrass me, aren't you?"

"Is it working?"

He maintained his smile and turned to head for the bathroom. He called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the bathroom, "Just give me a minute to actually get in the shower before you come in."

She lulled her head to the side and answered, "Don't worry, I have to get my clothes out for the day…"

* * *

After about twenty minutes of getting dress in a black top that showed a fair amount of cleavage, black jeans and boots and fixing her hair for the day (occasionally using the mirror to look back at the closed shower curtain), Gigi stepped out of her bedroom and towards her parents. She wore an impassive expression, just passing a glance between the pair.

The wannabe rockstar parents were finishing their breakfast as Cat spotted her daughter first. She stood up from the dining room table and Cat raised her hands and tried to put on a pleasant expression, hoping to disarm any potentially explosive situation as her mind could imagine how Alex could have painted them in the worst possible light. "Sweetie, I don't know what Alex told you, but I just want to say—"

Gigi was quick to interrupt, not having the patience for her mother at the moment, "He told me he accused you of only using me to make money now that the farm has been foreclosed on and you got offended. Is that basically the jits of the matter?"

The former backup singer closed her mouth for a moment and a flicker of anger passed over her eyes. She rallied her wits then returned with a sweet smile, "Yes, that's about it, but I want to assure you that isn't true. I love you and I finally realized you couldn't be what I wanted you to be… a sweet Ohioan farm girl that was going to settle down and live a normal life."

Gigi stuffed her hands in the back of her jean pockets and nodded her head, sparing a moment to lick her lips as her mind flashed to the image of what settling down truly meant and the expected person to share it with. She brushed the image aside then answered with a clearly sarcastic smile and tone, "And you came to this grand revelation the moment you realized you didn't have your house anymore and the money was running dry? I guess I'm just that fortunate then aren't I?"

Johnny forced an embarrassing smile while Cat blew out a harsh breath through her nostrils.

Gigi motioned with a finger back and forth between her parents and instructed them, "You two need to get ready if we have rehearsals first thing."

The aging failed rockstar smiled and spoke up before Cat could say anything to dig herself into a deeper hole with her daughter, "You're absolutely right honey." He passed Cat a look and motioned back with his head towards his bedroom. "We'll be ready whenever you are."

He started back with Cat pausing a moment to take another sip of her coffee, giving her daughter a cautious gaze then followed to catch up with her partner in… 'success'.

Once Cat was around the corner towards the bedroom, Gigi took a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island then sighed, feeling the sudden weight of throwing down a gauntlet in fight she wasn't sure she really wanted.

The (SHOO) Factory

New York City, NY

The quartet arrived about twenty minutes before the scheduled rehearsal time after a tense trip; one where Gigi had very little to say, Cat threw daggers with her eyes towards Alex's direction and Johnny wore a stupid grin as if everything was alright. The Ohioan horse handler for his part pointedly ignored the woman, confident in his opinion of the woman and fame seeking rock star.

The looks Cat had directed towards Alex during the walk didn't go unnoticed by Gigi. She half expected for her mother and former boyfriend to breakout into an argument any moment during the walk, one she knew her mother would have started and it just fueled her annoyance with her mother. She had made it a point to walk with Alex arm-in-arm to get under her mother's skin and if she was honest with herself, she missed the closeness to her ex-boyfriend.

Gigi regretfully released Alex's arm as they stepped into the rehearsal studio and pulled off her leather jacket to drape it over the backrest of the first chair into the studio. She walked to the sound system to double check settings and connection of her microphone.

Johnny and Cat retired to the recording booth without a word, leaving the former couple alone, but not out of sight to Cat's concerning eyes through the window.

Alex glanced over to see them spying on young twenty-somethings from behind the window while acting as if they were just adjusting the soundboard for the rehearsal, passing them a polite smile to at least keep up the appearance of civility. He walked over to Gigi as she adjusted her microphone in the stand.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and casually asked as if speaking about the weather, "Hey, are you okay?"

Gigi finished placing the microphone in the stand and answered with a halfhearted smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Alex lazily tilted his head to the right and answered with a semi-cocky smile, "Well, the conversation we had in your room, what I suspected was some confrontation in the living room while I was showering and now there is enough tension between you two to cut with a… chainsaw?"

She snorted out a laugh then answered, "She fed me the line that she suddenly realized that she should have been supportive instead of just hoping I would settle down to a normal life and she's here now to make sure what I want happens."

He barely nodded, taking a moment to process about what exactly 'settling down to a normal life' would entangle that drug up a number of feelings he believed that he had successfully settled over the last year, then asked, "Do you believe her?"

She rolled her eyes and snorted out a breath, "Does it matter? Her greed or love for me? She's here and trying to get me a record deal… the exact thing I wanted as you pointed out in my room."

"I guess not… but that's not the only thing you wanted."

She tightened a smile, feeling a tad bit of embarrassment then glanced down at their feet.

He raised a hand to cup under her left elbow and was about to try to say something supportive, but a young female voice called out, "Hey!"

The former couple turned to see Kari leading the band into the studio, seeing that she was wearing a beaming smile. Alex took a step back and turned to stand beside Gigi while she turned her head and met the band with warm smile, "Hey."

Manny and Bo politely nodded their respective heads in Gigi's direction, the lead guitarist's smile not as bright as the others, while they set their cases down while Kari continued with a flirtatious smile to Alex, "Nice to see you again."

The long haired Ohioan returned with a charming smile, "You too."

The blonde darted her eyes between the former couple, her smile growing as she asked, "You have a nice reunion?"

Gigi picked up the look and cheerful voice of her new keyboardist, she couldn't have missed it, but she wasn't exactly sure what game Kari was playing. She wasn't flirting with Alex, but she was interested about what was going on with them. Until she figured out what, she just played along and casually answered, "Yeah, we had a coffee then went out to a small dinner and caught a movie before heading back to my place."

Kari's smile couldn't get any bigger, clearly happy with such news, Manny pulled the strap over his head and adjusted his guitar against his right hip and tried to question in a causal way, "Your place?"

Gigi glanced to her guitarist, studying him for a moment and picking up a slight uneasiness from him. She didn't acknowledge it, but instead answered with a tightening smile, "Yeah… found out the place he was staying and I didn't want him to stay there. A little… grungy for my tastes, so he's going to stay at my place while he's visiting."

"Oh…" He turned his attention to Alex and asked, "So, you know how long you're staying?"

"I just assumed a few days…" He quickly added with a laugh in the hopes that he could keep the tension down, "I only packed for that long."

Gigi struggled with a smile, not necessarily happy that he'd only be sticking around that long.

Manny nodded along and asked in a rhetorically manner with a semi-forced smile, "Are you staying for another performance?"

The lead singer quickly answered for him, confirming in her mind that Manny wasn't comfortable with Alex's presence, "Yeah. Our original plans were to go out this morning, have lunch then I'd meet you here for rehearsals, but mom sprung it on me that she had moved them up."

Alex wasn't sure if he was seeing a bit of envy in the guitarist's voice and eyes, but casually laughed it off, "Don't worry, I won't get a free show out of it this time. I'm going to have buy you all a round of drinks for the show."

Bo chuckled as he adjusted the strap to his guitar, "Hey, that's fine by me."

Kari smiled along and the drummer expressed a pleasant enough expression as he took his seat behind the drums.

Manny politely nodded along, seeing no point in getting into a confrontation, assuming he wanted one, over such an easy going and friendly guy.

Gigi took her position behind the microphone then called out, "Alright, get warmed up then we're going to start with 'Ain't no Valentine' then 'Already in Love' then we're go from there."

The band nodded along then started with double checking the sound system and the tuning of their instruments and Gigi doing a few voice exercises to warm up while Alex had a seat on the couch again to watch another show. After a few minutes as time was money, the band started playing and Gigi began the first song by belting out, "Ohhh… ohhh… I'm not the one who said the word 'forever'… Forever is a long, long time…"

* * *

They played through several songs, getting more in-tuned and relaxed with one another with each song or more accurately, Gigi was becoming more comfortable with them and meshing with their playing. As much as she hated to admit it since all her friends since arriving in New York had been considerably older than her, playing with a group her own age was enjoyable and refreshing.

After wrapping up their last song, there was the expected clapping from Alex, and Gigi looked over her shoulder to them and spoke, "That was great guys. Let's take five."

The other members of the band gave acknowledgments with head nods or calling out 'alrights' before leaving their instruments and heading to the exit.

Alex got up from his seat and approached Gigi. He stopped right in front of her and congratulated with a big smile, "You guys sounded fantastic."

Gigi passed a glance over Alex's left shoulder to make sure the last of the band was more involved with talking with each other around the entrance of the room than paying attention to them and hesitantly answered, "Thanks, yeah, we're… sounding tighter."

He raised a curious eyebrow and asked, "I can hear the hesitation in your voice."

She slightly nodded her head to the side and answered, "Okay, I'm still getting used to them."

He cautiously prodded, "And… is that making you hesitant? You're not sure it was the right call to bring them in?"

The dark haired singer looked past his shoulder to glance out how easygoing they were with one another chatting away then continued, "I did want to have experienced musicians backing me, but after the case my dad made… well I've already told you that, but I'm willing to give them a chance. I can't deny they have talent. I think our sound and our chemistry is still a little off, but—" She was quick to defend them, "—it's not their fault. We haven't known each other that long and played together. I wouldn't exactly be fair to compare our sound to the Assassins or blame them for the lack of 'spark' so far. I'm the one coming into their dynamic."

Alex nodded along and replied, "I certainly can understand the desire to have someone experienced backing you up since you're just starting out, but after hearing you play through that set, you guys sounded great together. But…"

"What 'but'?"

"It's what you think. Do you think you'll work that out? Be ready in time for your meetings with those record executives?"

She took another deep breath then gave him an apprehensive gaze. "Do I have maybe a tiny nagging feeling that we're not going to get that magic going?" She nodded along to answer her own question, "Don't repeat this, but I have this…" She raised a hand to hover over her heart and finished, "…nagging feeling in her heart that it isn't going to work."

He gave her a sympathetic look to her, signally she could be honest with him. "Could it be some anxiety of having to let the Assassins go? You dreamed about playing with them, but now… you had to give that up?"

"That could be it…" she finally admitted out loud. She tightened her smile for a moment, letting herself feel that regret for at least a few seconds then continuing, "I've been ignoring the hesitation and worries I've been feeling and powering through because I know I have to focus on the future and let go of the past. I can't get swamped with their baggage—that's why I fired them in the first place. It got to the point of dealing with overgrown children pretending to be adults… shit Alex, I'm already down to my last fifty thousand over the last year trying to get us off the ground. My mom's been here almost three weeks and I've gotten more done than all the months with them."

Alex blinked then knotted his brow. He softly whistled, wishing he had fifty grand in the bank. "Fifty thousand? How much did you start off with?"

"Mom gave me two hundred thousand to get me started when I moved out here."

The long haired horse handler's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What?" He shook his head and quickly added, "Wait, over this nine months you've spent a hundred and fifty grand on trying to get a record deal with them and you have really nothing to show for it?"

Gigi crossed her arms under her chest and nodded her head, trying her best not to grit her teeth at how damning that sounded. "Yeah."

Alex glanced away, brushing a hand over this mouth then looked back to her with an annoyed glance. "Damn… sounds like they were just draining you dry instead of really wanting to be a band with you."

She glanced away and shook her head. "It's starting to look that way… makes me feel a little less…"

"Makes you feel what?"

She shook her head and muttered, "Never mind."

He directed a concern gaze on her, but the slightly pleading look she gave him asked to drop it.

Alex smile and pressed on, not getting the answer he was really seeking, "Okay, back to your new band. I mean, what do you think about them as people? That's going to be important too if you're going to be playing with them in for the foreseeable future."

She shrugged her shoulder and lazily answered, "They seem pleasant enough. They seem to get along pretty well among themselves and I haven't had any real problem with any of them." She continued with almost as if she was trying to hold back an embarrassing smile, "Heck, the guys are alright. They're not the usual self-absorbed and obnoxious guys our age that I usually have to deal with. They're polite and kind of down to Earth. It's a pleasant surprise from them. They haven't tried to get inside my panties, though I get the sense that Manny might be interested in me." She glanced over Alex's shoulder to look at her new guitarist. "Though, he hasn't pushed or used any cheap pickup lines on me."

Alex chuckled as he slightly turned his head, "I don't blame him."

Gigi raised a surprised eyebrow, one that also seemed to ask him to elaborate as to why he thought so.

He returned with a soft chuckle, "What? I'm going to blame a guy for good taste in women?"

She lifted a corner of her mouth, fighting back the smirk at his subtle flirtation. She turned her face away and slightly shook her head.

He chuckled and took a step back. "Anyway, I'm going to go get you something to drink before you get back to rehearsing." He walked past the band to head for the breakroom, passing a smile to the rest of the band as he walked out.

He didn't notice that Kari had disengaged her conversation with Bo and followed him out into the hallway.

* * *

Alex entered the break room and walked to the mini-refrigerator. He opened it and pulled out a bottle water.

"Hey," a soft voice called out behind him.

The Ohioan horse handler whipped around to see Kari directing a bright smile to him. He chuckled as he closed the refrigerator door, "Hey."

Kari tightened her smile to a bashful one.

Alex returned with a gentle farmboy smile, trying to keep the any tension down with what he saw as a clear attempt to 'ambush' him with the smile she was directing towards him, but getting straight to the point, "Is there something I can help you with?"

She took another step into the room, remaining on the other side of the table and nodded her head to the side. "I'm just a little curious about you and Gigi."

Alex cocked his head to the side and answered with a charming smile, "What exactly are you curious about?"

"Isn't it obvious? Are you more than just old friends?"

He licked his lips and suppressed a chuckle, momentarily glancing away as he remarked, "You're pretty direct?"

She nodded her head to the side, threatening for her knitted cap to fall off the back of her head, and innocently answered, "I'm just a little curious…"

"I think it might be a little more than that."

"Maybe a little."

Alex studied her for a moment then answered, "I don't see any point in hiding it. I'm her ex. We were together before she moved out here.

She smiled triumphantly, feeling like she had won some great victory in getting a confirmation of what she suspected from almost the moment he arrived. "I thought so."

"You did?"

He took a step closer, but keeping the table between them. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, actually it was entirely because he didn't trust her since he didn't know her. He continued with a slightly tease, hoping to keep her off balance if she had put him in her crosshairs for some kind of plan, "What? Guys and girls just can't be friends?

"Not the way you two look at each other…"

"I'll grant you that, but was there any particular reason you wanted to know and not just because of a little curiosity?"

The blonde walked around to the end of the table and had a seat on the edge of it, partially crossing her right leg over her knee and resting her hands on her right knee. "Actually… I wanted to know if there is a chance that you two could get back together?"

Alex suddenly felt a smidge uncomfortable, concerned as to the direction of the conversation. "Oh… and why is that? Do you think I'm here to try to 'win' her back?"

Kari took a few seconds to contemplating whether she should risk confiding in the handsome young man. She blew out a soft breath from her nose and answered, "I'm interested in Bo—for a while now—and he seems like he's finally starting to respond, but… now Gigi is in the picture…"

Alex took a moment to put the pieces together, faster than Kari thought, and answered, "You're concern that you're suddenly going to have competition with Gigi?"

She snorted out and glanced away, "I have eyes." She turned her head to meet Alex's eyes again and continued, "Gigi's gorgeous and I've seen how Manny is starting to look at her… I'm not interested in getting into a competition with her especially when we're trying to get this band together."

The handsome young man nodded his head and replied, "I'd be the last person to argue that point, but I don't think you have anything to worry about her moving in on your guy. If you haven't realized, for right now, Gigi isn't interested in guys our age. I assume you've seen her ex, Flash and after that, I think relationships are the last thing on her mind after what happened."

She stuck her tongue out and made a face. "Ugg, I have." She shook her head and mockingly laughed, "I can't believe she actually slept with him…" She moved her right hand next to her head and wiggled her fingers. "…that girl seriously has some daddy issues to be sleeping with someone like that—like sleeping with your dad."

Alex tried to keep a pleasant smile on his face, but he was struggling. He wasn't sure what he was more disturbed by, the inadvertent insult towards Gigi or his mind conjuring up images of his ex and the seasoned guitarist engaging in such activities.

Kari apparently caught his reaction and sucked in a breath through her teeth then embarrassingly spoke, "Sorry, I don't mean to ah…"

He nodded along and tried to dig her out of the accidental hole, "Yes, unfortunately… I don't believe I'm betraying any confidences in saying this, but not having her father around has played a big part in her life. It's a big reason she's out here in the first place. How she has handled that…" He forcing a greater smile to keep the bile from rising up in his stomach. "…those feelings, is her business."

"Right…" she nodded along. She put on a smile again and shrugged a shoulder. "…but on the bright side, she never did better than you."

Alex started to speak, but realize didn't have a retort. He closed his mouth and looked to her with a mildly frustrating expression.

Kari's smiled grew bigger then got up from her seat to leave the room to head back to the rehearsal studio.

Alex sighed then rounded the end of the table to jog to catch up with her.

* * *

Alex and Kari returned to the rehearsal room as the others were getting ready for the second half of rehearsals. Bo and Manny inconspicuously noticed the pair's near simultaneous arrival, watching their keyboardist take her position behind her instrument.

The Ohioan horse handler walked to his ex and handed her the bottle of water. She happily accepted it and twisted the cap open then took a sip of it. She took a few gulps then screwed the cap back on and sat it on the stool next to her.

Gigi looked past the Alex and asked the band, "Are we ready for the second set?"

Manny walked behind her, pulled the guitar strap up and over his head then answered with a smile, "Ready whenever you are."

She saw confirmation with the rest of them as they retook their places. "Okay…" She started listing the songs they were going to be going through while Alex turned and walked to the couch, flopping down in it and readying for the last of the practice.

* * *

After completing another set of songs that lifted all of their spirits about the likelihood of them getting a record deal in the near future, the band was putting away their respective instruments and setting everything back in place for the next group that would be using the space. As Bo and Manny were putting up their guitars, Kari and the drummer casually chatting and Gigi and Alex falling into a relaxing banter, some unexpected visitors arrived in the studio.

"Oh… hi," Flash sarcastically called out to the occupants of the room.

The band turned their heads and attention in unison to see Ava and the Assassins entering, apparently ready for rehearsals. Gigi knotted her brow, darting her eyes upon each of her former band mates. She crossed her arms under her chest and asked in a cool voice, "What are you doing here?"

Flash mockingly grinned as he answered in a sarcastic tone, " _We_ have to rehearse and this is the time we booked. We didn't expect to see you here."

Gigi tightened her smile, clearly not pleased with their presence for anyone to see. She began "No, I guess you didn't…" She glanced over to the sound booth to meet her mother's eyes and a sour expression then turned her head back to meet Flash's eyes. "…there was a last minute change in our rehearsal time. We usually meet up sometime after lunch for a mid-afternoon rehearsal."

The experienced guitarist laughed, not really believing her story, "Right…"

As the form couple conversed, Ava's eyes were drawn to Alex standing particularly close to Gigi. She had an instinctive reaction that she had seen him before then recognizing him after a few more moments. Her polite smile turned into an awkward expression and her eyes lit up in recognition. She was about to make an introduction, but Flash continued while raising his right hand to point at Alex and glancing to Gigi, "Who is he?" He took a step closer to Alex, wearing a self-assured grin and enjoying the slightly half a foot height advantage as he quickly added in a sarcastic manner, "Did you need another pretty boy front man for your group?"

Gigi's eyes rapidly darted between her two exes, seeing exactly what Flash attempting. She was about to snap back at him, but Alex returned with a pleasant smile and an offered hand, "No, I'm Alex. I'm an old friend of Gigi's from Ohio."

The guitarist was thrown off for a moment with a surprised gaze from the explanation and the polite response to his thinly veiled hostility. He took a few seconds to regain his composure, seconds that everyone else in the room noticed that the young man had won the first 'point' with various hidden smirks of the Red Wedding, especially Johnny's as he and Cat exited the booth. He glanced at the hand and pointedly ignored it, instead wearing a grin and awkwardly chuckled as if the last few second hadn't happened, "Oh, you are?" He glanced over the shorter young man's shoulder to Gigi, giving her a questioning look about the definition of 'friend'.

The long haired Ohioan dropped his hand and stuffed them in his jean pockets. He lazily continued as if he wasn't concerned about the slight, "Yes I am and I'm guessing that you're Flash."

If possible, the cocky guitarist stood up straighter and slightly lifted his chin as if he was about to puff you his chest. "Yeah, I am."

The two stared at one another for a few more seconds, sizing each other up.

Johnny was fighting back a grin, hoping for some kind of showdown between the pair. He really wanted someone that wipe that smug look off the guitarist's face for any host of reasons. However, he would have to wait, but thought it was worth the wait as he saw the clear slight of Alex breaking eye contact first with a pleasant smile and looked around Flash's left arm to Ava and offered his hand, "Hello, you must be Ava."

The blonde was momentarily caught off guard by his sudden change in attention.

Flash saw the slight too, feeling as if he had been dismissed instead of actually being respectfully acknowledged before addressing the others.

Ava regained her wits and took a step towards him, accepting the hand with a gracious smile, "Yes I am."

Gigi took the step to retake her place next to Alex and continued to make the introductions, "Yes, she's Ava X and these are the Assassins."

There was another pause as it looked like another standoff was going to happen with Flash and Ava standing on one side and Alex and Gigi on the other. Any building tension witnessed by the others, each randomly exchanging glances among themselves and Cat biting her tongue, hoping for a blow up to further drive a wedge between her daughter and her former band.

Cat was sorely disappointed when Alex kept his easy going expression and friendly commented, mostly to Ava, "It's nice to meet you Miss Ava. I've seen your Ava X poster. It's definitely eye-catching."

Ava's awkward smile grew into a half laugh and answered, "Ah… thank you. It's nice to meet you too. You've seen my poster?"

"Yeah…" His smile grew a little bigger. "They have it hung up pretty prominently in the apartment. That's a nice picture of you ma'am." He passed a sideward glance to Gigi and remarked, "I guess Virginia didn't want to get rid of it…"

Ava's eyes went wide for a moment then glanced over to Gigi, the former surrogate mother/daughter sharing uncomfortable and curious gazes, then the blonde passed one to Johnny.

Johnny tightened his smile and wished he had put his sunglasses back on his face to hide his eyes from the mild embarrassment he was feeling. He tightened his smile, trying to clear his throat and stuff his hands into his jean pockets as he really didn't have anything to say that wouldn't come out lame.

Cat wasn't too pleased with the poster being brought up and threw a sideward accusing glance to her partner in not having it removed. Her jaw was so tightly closed that she was threatening to crack her teeth.

Gigi's arms tightened around her body and glanced over to Alex an almost accusing stare that said he had gone too far, but he looked at her from the corner of his eye and faintly smile to show he knew exactly what he was doing.

Flash raised an eyebrow and asked, "Virginia?"

"Yeah, her name." He gave up the opportunity to press the advantage of Flash failing to know even the most basic thing about his ex-girlfriend and walked behind Gigi, placing his left hand on upper left arm for balance (a gesture not missed by either Flash or Ava), then approached Rehab and offered his hand to Rehab. "Hello."

Rehab wore a perturbed expression, taking a moment to look at Alex's hand to make sure it wasn't diseased or something. He reluctantly accepted the handshake as Alex asked, "You're the band photographer, right?"

The fedora wearing bassist cautiously answered, "Yeah, I am."

The long haired young man laughed with praise, "I've seen a lot of your photos online. They're great. I'm surprised that you didn't make that into a profession."

He cracked a smile, feeling a bit better about the stranger and answered, "It's a passion… I've had to take a break to get a new camera. The other one got… busted." He glanced to Bam Bam, throwing an accusing gaze in his direction.

The experienced drummer slightly shook his head and threw a death glare at his turbulent friend.

Alex darted his eyes back and forth, seeing that he may have just set off a potential landmine between the bandmates. He attempted to laugh it off, hoping to diffuse the situation, "Accidents happen among friends…"

Bam Bam answered with a restrained disgusted gaze, "That might be stretching a bit with the word 'friends'."

The bassist and drummer stared annoyed gazes with one another, showing that they still had problems with one another.

Alex kept his pleasant expression as he turned to Bam Bam and offered his hand, "Well… either way it is nice to meet you."

The portly drummer looked just as dubious as Rehab, but nevertheless accepted the hand and introduced himself with questionable sincerity, "Nice to meet you too kid. They call me Bam Bam."

The young man acknowledged with a polite nod of his head.

Flash finally sat his guitar case next to him then casually crossed his arms over his chest, sticking his hands just under his armpits. He wore a smug expression and asked, "So Alex, what brings you out to New York?"

Alex glanced to his left to Gigi then looked back to Flash as he answered, "I'm just visiting Gigi. It's been an almost a year since she got here and I finally got a chance to come out and visit and catch up. I'm sure a lot's happened since the last time we saw each other."

Flash wore what he thought was a charming smile and commented, "Yeah it has…" He looked to Gigi again then finished with a grin, "…and a lot's happened then."

The younger man's smile slightly grew and answered, "Yes, I've been told… professionally and personal."

"One side I can imagine," he leered, giving a gaze over Gigi then to Cat and Johnny.

Gigi maintained a tight smile and a cold stare.

Alex laughed off the dig, "Well, when someone has only talked to one person, it can't be anything else than one sided being from one point of view."

The guitarist shrugged the opposite shoulder to him cocking his head to the right. "I don't know…" He turned a look to Johnny and added, "…there seems to me to be more than one you couldn't have talked to."

Johnny pulled his right hand from his pocket and jabbed it in the direction of his former lead guitarist and hissed out as if he was ready to let loose a string of F-bombs, "Anything I've said is the God's honest truth."

Flash lifted his chin and sarcastically replied, "Oh really? 'The God's honest truth'?"

Alex interrupted before they could get into an argument, "Actually, I haven't asked Mister Rock anything about what's been happening. I only know what's been going on from Twitter, Instagram and what Gigi has filled me in about."

The taller man lopsidedly grinned and remarked, glancing over to Gigi, "I'm sure it's been… an accurate telling of what happened."

Gigi's breathing slightly increased and she balled her fists against her sides from her still crossed arms, directing a near hateful gaze towards her ex.

Alex tightened his grin and casually replied, "All recounts are colored by our emotions and how we remember things… putting more emphasis on one thing and less on another and that's how memories are formed. It's not that someone is being purposely deceptive about the truth, it's just how people work."

Flash snidely remarked, "I'm sure Gigi put more emphasis on some things than others…"

The younger man caught him off guard with a disarming laugh, "I thought I just said that?"

Flash's smirk left his face, feeling like he had just been mocked.

In the background, Johnny wasn't bothering to hide his grin of watching the show and the Red Wedding were trying to suppress snickers that threaten to spill out of their mouths.

The experienced guitarist caught sight of Johnny relishing in his apparent setback in the verbal duel he was engaged with Alex. He pushed down his annoyance and brushed a hand to smooth over his hair then looked back to Alex. "So just a friend… I don't recall Gigi ever mentioning you before… I guess you're not something she put a lot of emphasis on remembering," he tried to come off as smooth then pass a glance over to Gigi as if it was some kind of dig towards her.

Gigi was ready to take his chainsaw onto him, her mounting annoyance with his smartass innuendo pushing her to the breaking point.

The handsome long hair kept a casual smile, showing the remark hadn't fazed him in the slightest.

Cat spoke up before he could respond with a wickedly pointed answer, "I guess my little girl didn't want to compare her ex to you… subconsciously afraid you wouldn't measure up to him."

Alex looked over his shoulder to Cat, seeing a devious smile on her face. She wanted a confrontation and she was going to nudge it into happening one way or the other.

Flash's brow shot up and a nearly face breaking grin formed on his face. His eyes darted across the former couple's eyes and the parents standing at the other end of the room. "Oh… so you really more than an old friend?" He nodded along as the pieces fell into place and excitedly continued, "I see what's going on. You saw Gigi's video—the one these ass[…] cut us out of—and Cat told you that Gigi and I have broken up, so you're here seeing if you can cozy back up to her. See if you can hop on the gravy train?"

He looked to his ex and asked, "Your dad's not enough, so you have exes trying to get your money?"

Gigi stared at Flash with such a hateful gaze and dropped her arms around her, ready to punch him out.

The Red Wedding members started looking uncomfortable while the rest of what was left of the Assassins tried to look in other directions. They saw the kids gloves had just come off and what was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty.

Alex raised a corner of his mouth and casually answered, "You know, that's a pretty legitimate concern. I'm a little insulted by the outright assumption, but the concern is something she should have."

His statement immediately chilled the room of the rising temperature.

Gigi's anger momentarily evaporated and turned a dumbfounded gaze towards Alex.

Flash looked flabbergasted at him for a second and asked, "Wait, what?"

The others looked to the long haired young man with equal confusion.

He passed a quick glance to Gigi then continued, "When someone gets into a lot of money or they're famous—or going to become famous—all sorts of people come out of the woodwork to try to get a piece of you." He looked over the Red Wedding and added, "It would be a safe bet to make once they get signed that a bunch of people would start trying to get friendly with them and become part of their entourage."

He turned his attention again to Flash and finished, "Isn't that just part of being a 'rock star'? Surrounded by groupies that want a piece of you? Gigi and I have a history and I'm out of work at the moment, it's a pretty legitimate concern, but… no, not looking to get any of her money."

Flash was a little thrown off with how agreeable the young man was being with him. "Really?"

The young man chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "Miss Zakarian and Mister Rock have that well in hand to try to get as much out of Gigi as they can get their greedy hands on."

Flash was thrown again for a second, but Ava whistled, Rehab gave a stunned expression and Bam Bam let out a chuckle.

Alex looked over his shoulder to the rocker parent and asked, "Am I right?"

Johnny shook his head and hissed out in disgust, "You son-of-a-bitch…"

Alex flinched for a second then passed a cold stare, the first real sign that something had gotten to him and real look of anger that anyone had seen pass his face. His voice had lost all its warm and whispered, "Don't ever call my mother a bitch again… or you and I are really going to have some problems Mister Rock."

Johnny swallowed, feeling a genuine sense of nervousness from the Ohioan young man. He had known when he crossed a line with Gigi and saw he had just done that with Alex.

Flash took a few more seconds to recover and shouted out with a near gleeful look on his face and motioned with a hand towards Johnny and Cat, "So you see what they're doing too?"

Alex shook his head and let out another soft chuckle, regaining the warmth in his voice, "Anyone can see what they're doing, but what is there really to complain about?"

He let the question hang for a moment, putting Flash off-balance again and drawing curious looks from everyone else in the room.

"The only way they can get what they want is for her to succeed in her—and the band's—ambitions. They may not genuinely care about her making it other than their own payday as with so many other managers in the business I assume, but they have to do their best to make it happen… just like any other managers. The real trick is to make sure they just don't chew her up and spit her out." He looked over his shoulder to the Red Wedding and added, "Same goes for them too and not turn them into a means to an end."

The members of the Red Wedding turned a few concerned gazes at Cat and Johnny, wondering high likely they would pull something on them. They had eagerly jumped at the chance to work with Gigi once she caught the Assassins loose, so would she convince Gigi to do the same to them it if circumstances warranted it?

He turned a quick look to Ava and added, "It's too bad she doesn't have someone there for her that genuinely cares about her."

Ava slightly flinched realizing the statement was directed solely on her. A sliver of guilt, something that had been spreading more and more through her soul over the last, shot through her.

Flash felt vindicated, momentarily forgetting his standoffishness towards Alex, and practically laughed out, "Geeg, even your ex can see what they're doing. They don't care about you. They just want to use you."

Gigi clenched her jaw tighter and pulled her arms around her body again, unsure whom she should direct her anger: Flash being able to push his point out for all to see or Alex giving him the ammunition to do so.

Alex slightly squinted and answered for Gigi, "I think you missed my point. They still want her to reach her goals, so getting rid of them would be sabotaging herself."

The older man incredulously pointed out, "But they're just pimping her out."

The younger man gave him a genuinely curious expression. "How is it 'pimping her out' in being her managers and song writers? When you were her band and songwriting with Mister Rock, were you pimping her out? Were you just using her or were actually trying to be a band to have success together?"

Flash opened his mouth to retort, but found he had nothing to say. He looked over his shoulder to Ava, Rehab and Bam Bam for some support, but they didn't as if they had any sort of retort for him.

An odd quietness settled on the room where the next logical step in their 'banter' was uncertain. Flash knew he had just lost his attempt to psychologically dominate the conversation and puff himself up at the expense of Alex to show Gigi that he was still the better man with Alex being charmingly polite and for the most part agreeing with him.

The silence was broken when Alex glanced at his watch and commented with a smile, "Look at the time…" He looked to meet Flash's eyes and finished, "…we're cutting into your rehearsal time. It was nice to meet all of you… especially you Miss Ava."

Flash gathered his composure and tried to come off casually, but failing miserably, "Yeah… we need to rehearse. We're Ava X and the Assassins now."

"Well, good luck. It was nice to meet you…"

"I'm sure it was," Flash answered unsuccessfully to keep the mocking scorn out of his voice that wasn't lost on anyone.

The sound of flailing defeat in the lead guitarist's voice cooled Gigi's anger, now seeing Alex's non-confrontational approached had run circles around Flash and thwarted her mother's attempt for them to have a big blowup.

The Red Wedding quickly gathered their things with Gigi and Alex's help to free up the space for the Assassins to be begin their rehearsals. The bands exchanged awkward glances with one another as they swapped positions for their musical instruments, but there were not traded barbs or voiced resentments in getting replaced.

Once they were done, the Red Wedding and the rest were heading out the door. Gigi looped her arm around Alex's arm and passed a glance over her shoulder, meeting Flash and Ava's eyes.

Flash tried to look cocky as he was adjusting his guitar strap over his shoulder, but Ava gave her a faint, perhaps hopeful smile.

Gigi brushed off Flash's reaction, chalking it up to his immature behavior, but the blonde's gesture struck her and instinctively returned the week smile before she exited the room with Alex.

* * *

Author's note: I hoped it was worth the wait. I hope I didn't disappoint with Alex and Flash first meeting. You know they'll have to be more and probably won't be as… cordial. Until next time, take care, OneHorseShay.


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